Teaching a Child to Walk

Pieter de Hooch built his reputation on quiet Dutch rooms where nothing dramatic happens and the light does all the work. This one comes from around 1670, part of a group of interiors he painted with the sun slanting in from a window on the left toward a fireplace on the right. The whole event is a small child being taught to walk. Two women steady the toddler, who is held upright by leading strings, long fabric bands stitched to the back of the dress so an adult could catch the child before it fell. Ordinary Dutch households used them for just this moment, when a small child first tried the floor on its own.