# Paying the Hostess

**Pieter de Hooch** (Dutch, 1629–1684)  
ca. 1670  
Oil on canvas  
37 1/4 x 43 3/4 in. (94.6 x 111.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 58.144. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/436677).

## About this work

Pieter de Hooch painted this in about 1670, aged about 36. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Pieter de Hooch](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/pieter-de-hooch)

Dutch, 1629–1684; born in Rotterdam; died in Amsterdam

De Hooch was born in Rotterdam and trained, according to an early biographer, with Nicolaes Berchem in Haarlem. His finest work dates from his years in Delft in the late 1650s, when he painted sunlit courtyards and orderly interiors with views through doorways into further rooms, close to the concerns of his contemporary Vermeer. After moving to Amsterdam in the early 1660s he painted grander interiors for a wealthier clientele.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was about 36
- Real size: about 37 × 44 in (95 × 111 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 24 × 36 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: Interiors, Men, Women, Dogs
- Colour: black
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1106.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1106/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/paying-the-hostess-met-436677).