![Pieter de Hooch - Card Players in a Sumptuous Interior [c.1665] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2002/12965904893_fa4652ce8d.jpg)
Pieter de Hooch - Card Players in a Sumptuous Interior [c.1665], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.
Pieter de Hooch came from a family of humble bricklayers but discovered his gift for painting at an early age. Following his apprenticeship years in Rotterdam and possibly Haarlem, he moved to Delft in the Netherlands in around 1650. There he aligned himself with the Delft school, which specialised in the interiors that were popular among prosperous Delft merchants. De Hooch rapidly became one of the leading exponents, alongside Jan Vermeer, of gallant interior scenes characterised by the precise observation of detail and meticulous execution. While Vermeer placed a stronger emphasis on the figure, de Hooch shone at the depiction of magnificent rooms. In around 1660, de Hooch moved to Amsterdam, where he started painting increasingly fashionable interiors.
Card Players in a Sumptuous Interior dates from his early years in Amsterdam and is thought to show the entrance hall of a high-class house of pleasure. It is full of sexual allusions: the couple holding hands by the entrance; the (fixed) card game in which the lady holds all the aces; her eye-catching red dress with yellow underskirt (a symbol of passion and love as a commodity); and the blazing fire in the grate, symbolising the flames of love.
[Musée du Louvre, Paris - Oil on canvas, 77 x 67 cm]