A Man weighing Gold

A Man Weighing Gold, c. 1670,
Cornelis de Man (1621–1706)
Private collection. Oil on canvas, 82 x 68 cm.
The Man Weighing Gold is one of Cornelis de Man's best-known and most beautiful genre paintings. In a comfortable interior, a gentleman weighs gold at a table watched by a seated woman, perhaps his wife. The artist cleverly suggests the chill of early morning by the thick garments worn by the pair, the woman's pose, the crumpled bedding beside the box bed, and the presence of a young servant placing peat in the hearth to ignite a fire.
The perspective system is constructed upon an oblique, dual-point system. This complex system was common in paintings of church interiors, particularly in Delft, and de Man was undoubtedly familiar with it from his own, earlier renditions of such spaces. The conspicuous floor tiles and beamed ceiling intensify the illusionistic effects of the perspective as does the richly carved wainscoting and mantelpiece. (from WGA)