“An Allegory of Representation”: Byron Otis on Gabriel Metsu’s "View into a Hall with a Jester, a Boy, and his Dog"

Gabriel Metsu's painting View into a Hall with a Jester, a Boy, and his Dog from c. 1667 subtly upends expectations of Dutch genre painting from this period. Rather than depicting a placid scene of everyday life, Metsu reflexively calls attention to the constructed nature of this illusionistic scene and implicates the viewer within the cast of characters.