Nicolaes Maes, master of the interior

Earlier this year, Covid-19 caused London’s National Gallery to close its doors and cut short the first major loan exhibition ever devoted to the seventeenth-century Dutch painter Nicolaes

Maes (1634-1693). Shutting up shop indefinitely was unprecedented; calling time prematurely on such a significant new show was unimaginable. With the fate of all forthcoming exhibitions up

in the air, it seemed unlikely that the Maes retrospective would join them in their holding pattern. Better to cancel it outright and free up some space than postpone until further notice

and add to the backlog.

However, good things come to those who wait. After 111 days locked down, the National Gallery has reopened. Amazingly, the 48 Maes works haven’t been packed up and sent back to their various

lenders. Instead, the whole exhibition has been granted an extended run until September. Those who missed it the first time around should take advantage of its return, for on display is a

choice selection from the diverse output of an inventive and versatile artist of the Dutch Golden Age.

The exhibition charts the course of Maes’s career, from Rembrandt’s talented pupil to one of the most successful portrait painters of his time. The first room is devoted to Maes’s

apprenticeship years in Amsterdam where he learned to paint “histories” — chiefly scenes or episodes from the Bible or mythology. Rembrandt’s influence is keenly felt here: some of these

early paintings are copies of his compositions; others, such as the huge Christ Blessing the Children (1652-3) with its deft chiaroscuro effects, bear the mark of an eager student following

his master’s example. But then in Abraham Dismissing Hagar and Ishmael (1653) we discern Maes making tentative steps to develop his own style. Unlike Rembrandt’s etching of the same subject,

Maes separates the two figures being sent into the wilderness to reinforce the notion of rejection and intensify our emotional response. He also blends in and relies on lighter tones,

bursts of which offset dusky shadows, a gloomy edifice and the deep, voluptuous reds of the patriarch’s robes.

The third room focuses on Maes the portraitist. This period of his life saw him at his most prolific: in 1675 it was estimated he was delivering one or two portraits a week; by the time of

his death he had produced around 900. His often very distinguished clients kept him busy and made him wealthy. They also encouraged him to drastically alter his style. His portraits from the

1650s are competent yet uninvolving. Against a blank, featureless backdrop his sitters sit, each of them wearing solemn expressions and black garb, the only concession to colour being a

white collar or cuff. In contrast, and in response to changing times and prevailing fashions, his later portraits are visions of elegance and flamboyance. These sitters don’t just sit, they

pose. Some are decked out in shimmering satins and extravagant wigs. Many of them have been dropped into Arcadian settings complete with deer and dogs, waterfalls and fountains, rolling

hills and bosky groves. Portrait of Simon van Alphen (1677) presents a cocksure young man with lustrous curls, a gold tunic and a thrust-out hip. If he walked he would swagger. Portrait of

an Unknown Family (1670-5) showcases a clearly prosperous and prominent family in a landscape garden. The classical allusions and gleaming finery render them playfully absurd. But what draws

our attention and piques our curiosity is the sheer liveliness of the scene. Maes has magically endowed all six family members and their two dogs with a pulse. No one seems able to sit or

stand still; we follow their gestures and anticipate their next moves.

Maes may have made a name for himself with his commissioned portraits, but it is the work he produced during his early years as an independent artist in Dordrecht that leaves the biggest

impression today. These so-called “genre” paintings adorn the second room of the exhibition and constitute the beating heart of the show. Here we are taken into middle-class Dutch homes to

view scenes of everyday life. Maes’s interiors are private realms, self-contained spaces offering tranquility or intimacy. His protagonists are women of all ages absorbed in household tasks

or recreational activities, either upstairs or downstairs. We meet lacemakers, seamstresses, account keepers, mothers, maids and milk-sellers. On each occasion we marvel at their lifelike

details. Young Girl Threading a Needle (1657) is a compact masterpiece which fully conveys both intense concentration and meticulous care. Young Mother with her Children (1656) is a domestic

tale of cause and effect: a woman brandishes a switch, having just hit her son, a little drummer boy, whose din was about to rudely awaken a baby in a cradle.

There is one rare blip. Old Woman Dozing (1656) is exquisitely rendered but annoyingly didactic. Maes hits us over the head with his scattered objects: does he need an open Bible and an

extinguished candle to remind us that sloth is sinful and time is running out? Otherwise Maes captures moods, stages drama or hints at intrigue with wit, charm and the subtlest of strokes.

The Idle Servant from 1655 is one of several paintings in which the main figure — in this case the lady of the house — addresses or appeals to the viewer. We see this at its best in

paintings depicting characters up to no good. In Sleeping Man having his Pockets Picked (1656) the woman carrying out the deed meets our gaze, smiles slyly, and holds up a finger imploring

us to be complicit. There is also the remarkable and highly original suite of paintings containing mischievous eavesdroppers. In one, a housewife pauses at the foot of the stairs and listens

in on the illicit erotic encounter between a servant and her lover at the back of the house. In another, a maidservant hides behind a staircase and listens in on her mistress who is

berating someone, perhaps her husband, out of shot — yet not earshot. These variations on a single theme are united by key tropes and attributes: dark shadows, rich furnishings, prying eyes,

furtive glances, and again and again an index finger over lips requesting our silence.

Johannes Vermeer’s domestic scenes may be more memorable. However, Maes’s interiors paved the way and explored new territory. They make up his most striking and unique work. This enthralling

exhibition provides exclusive access to a closed-off world.

Nicolaes Maes: Dutch Master of the Golden Age is exhibited at the National Gallery, London, until September 20. For more information see www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

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