Genre paintings provide a glimpse into everyday life in the past. But the scenes often combine realistic, romanticized, imagined, and symbolic elements. Paintings of seventeenth century Dutch homes have been compared with estate inventories from the same period, revealing that while the bed and mirror would have been in the main room of middle class homes, other elements were omitted or added by the artist.
Painting, Interior with a Woman at the Virginals, Emanuel de Witt, c. 1665-1670. (Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)
Image featured in Investigating Family, Food, and Housing Themes in Social Studies by Cynthia Resor