![Pieter de Hooch - Woman and Child with Serving Maid [1663-65] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7425/9705743145_a0e21498d8.jpg)
Pieter de Hooch - Woman and Child with Serving Maid [1663-65], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.
Despite the presence of a serving maid, the elegantly clad mother is caring personally for her infant; she does not waste money on a wet-nurse. Across the spotless tile floor, we look into a second room at the back, then through the half-open door to a house on a canal and the city beyond. A fire is burning on the hearth, providing a colourful accent that recurs in the infant’s clothing and the sunlit view. In a similarly rhythmic fashion, the red of the fabric drying on the hearth is repeated at several points in the picture, giving the composition a balance of colour.
[Kunsthistorishes Museum, Vienna - Oil on canvas, 76 x 64 cm]