Wooing

The scene plays out in a brothel. A young woman with a partially unlaced bodice and wearing a cross, which indicates she is Catholic, is pouring wine into a soldier’s goblet. The looks exchanged between the two are an indication of what will soon take place, which is actually what the copulating dogs are already doing in the background on the right. These canines are also a reference to the proverb “Like mistress, like dog”, which is included in Jacob Cats’ emblem book Spiegel van den ouden en nieuwen Tyt? (Haag, 1632). The broken Gouda clay pipe lying on the floor may be linked to the phrase “kick the pipe”, which in the figurative sense meant “go to the brothel”. The lute hanging on the wall, in addition to the meaning mentioned above, could also be associated with the Dutch saying “de luit slaan” - to strum the lute - which is a euphemism for having sex.