A Dutch Golden Age master, Gerard van Honthorst shows us his expertise in lighting effects here in The Procuress, from 1625, that heightens the expressions of his characters, as the sole source of light is the candle on the table. Perhaps the fact that the client of the woman is shrouded in shadow with his back to us is a moral comment by the artist on his character. Or perhaps the scene is one of simple reportage of the lives of ordinary people.
Gerard van Honthorst’s The Procuress is in the Centraal Museum in Utrecht in The Netherlands.