A Lacemaker

Maes's Lacemaker from around 1672 recalls the domestic genre subjects of his early career while indicating a late return to intimate interior subjects alongside his dominant portrait practice. Lacemaking was one of the most skilled of feminine domestic crafts, requiring intense concentration and producing objects of great commercial value—Dutch lace was among the most valued luxury textiles in seventeenth-century Europe. The lacemaker's absorbed concentration on her intricate work was a subject that allowed painters to demonstrate both the dignity of skilled labor and the virtuous quality of feminine industry. Maes's late treatment of the subject shows how thoroughly he retained the sympathetic observation of his Rembrandtesque formation even after his stylistic transformation toward fashionable portraiture, demonstrating the continuity of his humanist engagement with interior subjects.

The concentrated figure of the lacemaker is rendered with careful attention to the specific physical demands of the craft. Maes's mature technique brings a polished refinement to the genre subject.