Hendrik Maertensz Sorgh fue un pintor holandés de la Edad Dorada conocido por sus escenas domésticas llenas de detalle y dramatismo, especialmente obras como "El Guitarrista" y "Ésau Vendiendo su Derechos Hereditarios". Su estilo barroco capturó la vida cotidiana con sensibilidad artística.
In this painting, Sorgh inflects a domestic scene with the art of still life. Two maids clean fish and peel vegetables in the foreground, surrounded by gleaming brass and earthenware. A closer look reveals a mischievous cat, an open birdcage, and, barely visible between the two servants, a couple caressing in the shadows. Even such seemingly innocuous elements as the earthenware pots would have carried an erotic connotation for seventeenth-century viewers.