Woman with a Basket of Eggs and a Cockerel

Woman with a Basket of Eggs and a Cockerel by Aelbert Cuyp represents the genre of figure studies and domestic scenes that formed a smaller part of his output alongside landscapes. The barnyard subject connects to the Dutch tradition of poultry painting and genre scenes of daily rural life. Cuyp's landscapes are distinguished by a warm golden afternoon light — possibly influenced by Jan Both's Italianate sunsets — that suffuses flat Dutch river scenery with a Mediterranean luminosity unique i...

The figure and poultry are rendered with Cuyp's characteristic naturalistic observation, with warm tones and careful attention to the textures of feathers, eggs, and fabric.