The Huntsman

Metsu grew up in Leiden, a city whose painters were known for very fine, almost invisible brushwork, the manner of Gerrit Dou, Rembrandt's first pupil. By 1661, when he signed and dated this panel, he had been living in Amsterdam for a few years, and the Leiden habits were still there.

The huntsman sits in an open window, a framing device Dou made popular, so the figure looks like a picture set inside the picture. He wears a fine red jacket, raises his glass and gives us a sly look. The hunting horn and the dead pigeon in front of him are the tools of his trade, and for Dutch speakers they also carried the usual bawdy puns on hunting and birding. The shiny jug on the windowsill is where the Leiden training shows most clearly.

Metsu wrote his name and the date just below the bird, on a panel only 28 centimetres high.