Old Woman and Boy before a Frugal Meal

Low-life domestic scenes are quite unusual for Terborch, who was best known for his elegant interiors and military scenes. The present painting was considered to be a nineteenth-century copy, but after cleaning and technical examination in 2005 it was identified to be a signed original. Terborch was inspired by similar domestic interior scenes by Leiden artists such as Quiringh van Brekelenkam and Gerrit Dou, who also set their figures in larger spaces filled with domestic details.