The Listening Housewife, 1655 (oil on panel)

The painting is essentially a comment on the efficient running of a household. The broom seemingly cast aside at the foot of the staircase suggests that domestic chores have been abandoned in favour of other distractions. The woman’s playful smile indicates that she is herself not necessarily being censorious, but in fact encouraging the viewer to enjoy - as she is - the moral dilemma of this particular situation. Sometimes the admonitory gesture is accompanied by one with the other hand indicating the source of concern. There are, in addition, other indications of moral laxity. The pose of the forefinger raised to the lips, representing silence, has a classical origin in representations of Hippocrates, the god of silence, but it was also used during the Renaissance and afterwards for figures of cupids and satyrs seen in compromising situations. The map on the wall, although intended to represent Holland, is a reference to worldliness, whilst the cat asleep on the chair below it is a symbol of wantonness.