An old woman weighing gold, or Allegory of Avarice

This picture adds to the handful of signed works by Willem Bartsius. Although there is relatively little information on his life – being perhaps better known as the uncle of Paulus Potter – he is recorded as a history painter in Amsterdam in the 1630s, treating subjects that were very common amongst artists in the circle of Rembrandt. Given their stylistic affinities, his pictures have occasionally been confused with those of Gerard Dou, such as Bartsius’s Samson and Delilah (Private collection, Zurich), which employs a fine level of detail that approaches the fijnschilders (see B. van Haute, 'Willem Bartsius and the art of Dutch history painting', Oud Holland Jaargang, CXXI, no. 4, 2008, pp. 215-44).

We are grateful to Dr. Fred. G. Meijer for endorsing the attribution on the basis of a photograph, dating the work to the first half of the 1630s.