Old Woman by the Fireplace c. 1850 - 1875

This is August Allebé’s painting "Old Woman by the Fireplace," likely made with oil paints on canvas or panel. The painting depicts an elderly woman sitting beside a tiled fireplace, a cat nestled on her lap. The material qualities here are not just about surface appearances, but communicate a sense of place and time. Notice the way Allebé uses the oil paint. It’s not about virtuoso brushwork, but more about capturing the scene's quiet dignity. The textures of the fabrics, the glazed tiles, the soft fur of the cat. These details evoke a lived-in domestic space. The scene is of a modest interior. This reflects the social context of 19th-century Dutch society, where artists like Allebé often turned their attention to the everyday lives of ordinary people. The painting may seem simple, but it’s a carefully constructed image that invites us to consider the beauty and value of the domestic sphere and the lives of those who inhabit it. It is a genre painting, not grand history or heroic narrative.