The Listening Housewife

The Listening Housewife (1655) is an oil on panel painting by the Dutch painter Nicolaes Maes. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is part of the collection of the Royal Collection of the United Kingdom.

This painting shows a woman as eavesdropper, a theme in interiors painted several times by Maes in the 1650s. There is a pair of lovers in the cellar that the woman is amused by, and her look directly at the viewer invites a collaborative peek at what they are doing. Another version of this painting, also painted by Maes, is on display in the Wallace Collection.

This painting was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1914, who wrote; "123. A GIRL WITH TWO MEN IN A CELLAR, WITH A YOUNG WOMAN LISTENING. Sm. 7. The woman comes down a winding stair in the centre. She holds on to a rope with her right

hand, and lays her left forefinger on her lips. She has a sly smile as she listens …

摘自英文维基百科「The Listening Housewife」（CC BY-SA 4.0），暂时没有中文条目。