View of an Interior, or The Slippers

(traditional title, given in the 19th century)
Samuel van Hoogstraten
Between 1654 and 1662
Oil on canvas, 103 x 70 cm.
Musée du Louvre, Paris
'Les Paoufles', Smauel Hoogstraten

VAN HOOGSTRATEN, Samuel
Dortrecht 1626–Dortrecht 1687

Samuel van Hoogstraten was born in Dordrecht on 2 August, 1627. He was first the pupil of his father, then, some time after his father's death in 1640, he entered Rembrandt's studio, where a fellow pupil was Carel Fabritius. The two young painters probably influenced each other: certainly both showed great interest in geometrical perspective, and Hoogstraten constructed peep-shows with tromp l'oeil scenes inside. Hoogstraten traveled widely, visiting Rome and Vienna, where he was patronized by the Emperor. He was in London in 1666, at the time of the Great Fire. He finally settled in his native town where he was made a Provost of the Mint. His major contribution to art was a book, lnleyding tot de Hooge Schoole der Schilderkonst, an introduction to the art of painting, and one of the few handbooks on painting published in Holland in that century. He died in Dordrecht on 19 October, 1678.

from:
The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, John Nash, London, 1972