Focus on this artwork and discuss the Description.
The painting shows three figures: a prostitute on the left, the client in the middle and the procuress on the right pointing to her palm to indicate that she is expecting payment. The client is holding a coin between his fingers as he puts his arm around the prostitute, who is playing a lute. The painting is an example of the popular genre known as Bordeeltjes, or brothel scenes (see also the overlapping genre of Merry company scenes).  The cropped, close-up figures close to the picture plane against a flat blank background are typical of Utrecht Caravaggism.There are at least three versions of the painting. The versions in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston are attributed to Dirck van Baburen or his studio. One copy of the painting was owned by Maria Thins, mother-in-law of Johannes Vermeer, who reproduced it in the background of two of his own paintings.  A copy owned by the Courtauld Institute in London has been identified as the work of the forger Han van Meegeren. This was featured in the third episode of the BBC TV series, Fake or Fortune?.
picture plane Fake or Fortune? Dirck van Baburen Courtauld Institute lute Han van Meegeren Utrecht Caravaggism Johannes Vermeer Boston Merry company left Vermeer Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Rijksmuseum Maria Thins BBC