Lot Essay
The original, of the same dimensions, has been in the Rijksmuseum since 1889. In the picture the pious reflection of the elderly woman is contrasted with the lustful appetite of the cat. In this way the picture summons to religious meditation on the vanity of worldly things, as is stressed by the symbolic objects displayed in the window-ledge (See W. Sumowski, Gemälde der Rembrandt-Schüler, 1983, III, cat.no. 1367, p.2023, with ill. p.2093). Another copy, measuring 132 x 111 cm, is in the Rijksmuseum (P.P.J. van Thiel, All the paintings of the Rijksmuseum, 1976, p.359, No2840, with ill.).