This article was originally a thread on social media, which is why it is formatted with lots of images and short responses.
The text is about the image below that paragraph.
Just discovered this painting on wikipedia, never seen it before, first showed up in 2023 in an auction, so it’s pretty unknown.
It is a Dutch 16th century painting of a bathhouse scene, so let’s check it out!
Don’t look too close, there’s naked nude nakedness everywhere!
No ogling!
Look away, think of your honour, your reputation!
Is that a tiled oven?
I think so, I miss another heat source in the room and you know our naked folk need some heat:
These are quite handy, wooden clothes or towel hangers. I’ve seen them in other paintings as well and used them myself when I worked in an medieval open air museum:
A young family?
Kids being annoying, of course. Dad having a drink.
This is something we modern folk are missing out on.
A bath, a sauna, a spa and getting drunk all at once!
This is what bathhouses were really like, you’d bring your kids, a regular fun day out;
By mum’s hand we see one of those famous combs archaeologists are practically drowning in.
They find so many of them! One side had extra fine combs for lice:
Just a few archaeological finds;
There’s also live music, yet again something we don’t really have any more at our spas, we get elevator muzak.
Just imagine going to a bathhouse, having a chat with friends, getting drunk AND enjoying live music!
I’m going to say it again my friends, we’re missing out:
The classic “my eyes are up here pal” scene.
Or is he looking at the golden heart around her neck?
Yes, the dad and the starer are wearing the same hat. Are they related, are they in some sort of special club, was this the normal men’s bathhouse hat in that region like the straw hats in Germany?
I have no idea. They look fancy:
Bathhouses were for all ages, families went there, people took their kids, which is why the idea that they were all places of sin and debauchery is silly.
The young girl is combing her hair;
What’s in here?!
Bowls, buckets, water everywhere.
These low tubs were very common, they were a bit like a modern day shower pan, you’d stand in it and then pour water over yourself, which would be a lot less hassle (and thus cheaper) than having to fill a tub you could submerse yourself in:
Another comb, some lost hairs and someone taking care of her toe nails, a bathhouse visit was about more than just cleaning yourself, it was about looking after yourself, having medical procedures, etc.
Comparable to a visit to a fancy spa perhaps, except more often than we get to do that sort of thing:
On the table another jug, grapes, cherries, other fruit, aw man this looks so delicious:
And finally… what the hell?
Who is that weirdo? And that hand gesture… oh dear!!
And that was the end of it because there’s not much more to say but then… I found this…
Another painting from the Dutch school, also 16th century but there are way too many similarities for it not to be connected to the previous one.
Same artist? Or were they both copying the same much older image?
I have no idea.
But there’s the “stove”:
The young family with the annoying kid;
The lady doing her toenails;
he romantic couple, he’s finally looking at her eyes;
The musician!
The elderly lady;
There’s no doubt, one of these is a copy of the other or they’re both copies of an earlier piece;
Copyright infringement!
This peculiar scene of a woman pinching another one, appears to be stolen from an other art piece, I’ve seen something very similar in a Dürer etch, or maybe this was just all the rage back then;
But the second one has a few more things to look at.
Here in the right corner we have a basin with a spoon and tap, probably for emptying the basin or filling a jug:
A black person is having a bath in one of those mini tubs or giant bowls, barely usable for a hip bath.
No segregation back then, well at least not there:
Another comb and a sponge on a string!
No weirdo by the door this time, but new visitors with fruit:
Above a door some art, a candle holder and graffiti?
Where is that man going? Does he have a tonsure? Is he a priest or monk?
Oh my, it seems that he’s going into a room where some people are er… well… I think wrestling or something…
Anyway, that’s all!
Just wanted to share one painting but then found another so had to add it.
Let me know what else you spotted and if there are more like these!
If you enjoyed this review, check out a list of other reviews I wrote here:
Fake History Hunter 