Market Scene

Follower of Hendrick Maertensz Rokes known as Sorgh (Rotterdam, 1610 or 1611 - 1670)
Market scene
Oil on copper, 45 x 36 - with frame cm 60 x 50
Published on RKD n. https://rkd.nl/imageslite/647372

In this painting, the lively everyday life of Delft’s port emerges clearly, revealing the meticulous attention to detail typical of a follower of Hendrick Maertensz Sorgh. The painter captures the scene with a cheerful minuteness, making palpable the atmosphere of the city. A young woman engaged in everyday tasks pauses interested, the basket close to her side, near a fishmonger. This, unlike the young man next to her who, distracted, looks happily in the distance, declamates his own merchandise. Four wooden baskets contain realistic fish still immersed in the water to preserve their freshness. Two fish fell from a basket, proof of the abundance of fishing. A little further, some fishermen are busy, while beyond the crystal clear water of the small port you can see a bridge with many bays and the pale profile of a mountain. A series of dwellings near the bridge and on the left of the painting, typically Nordic, further reinforce the description of the scene. The insistence on details (the pile-dwelling structure of the house in whose shadow the seller sits, the oars leaning against the wall of the same, the stones of the pavement, the bright shades of colors, especially green and red) denote a strong attention of the artist to genre scenes. Delft is a city and municipality in the Netherlands belonging to the province of South Holland. It owes its name to the Delf canal ("dig" in Dutch), an artificial extension of the Schia, at whose edges the city developed and from which it is still bordered near the southern and eastern border of the old town. In the present copper we see the representation of the Channel.