The activities of kitchen maids is one of the favourite subjects of Dou who did not exclusively enjoy the brightness of still-life painting, but pursued other types of artistic themes. Cooks were the subject of the comic literature of 17th-century Holland and painters emphasised their charms through the use of symbolism based on contemporary emblem books or proverbs. Thus, the empty birdcage would allude to the loss of virtue and the dead bird would have a double meaning: the Dutch word vogel (bird) is also slang for copulation. Many of the utensils in the image, such as the candle, the mortar and pestle and the jug, have clear sexual connotations. In addition, the maiden looks straight ahead while chopping onions, which in the 17th century were used as an aphrodisiac.
Collection: Images
Project: 4. Family, daily life and social inequality in Europe., 8. Women and the change for gender equality in Europe.
Chronology: XVII
Scope: Secondary education, Baccalaureate, University
Link: https://www.rct.uk/collection/406358/a-girl-chopping-onions
Resource type: Image
Format: Oil on panel (20,8 x 16,9 cm)
Source: Royall Collection (Reino Unido)
Language: English
Date: 1646
Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)
Identifier: RCIN 406358
Copyright: Royall Collection (Reino Unido)
Abstract: Domestic interior in which a woman chops onions, an issue with certain sexual connotations during the 17th century
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