This tour traces one particular trope of genre painting, the woman in the interior, from its emergence in the art of the seventeenth-century Netherlands to its appropriation by European artists at the turn of the twentieth century.  We will focus on the small-scale, domestic scenes of Emanuel de Witte, Pieter de Hooch, and Vilhelm Hammershoi in the MFA's collection.  Close attention will be paid to the use of light and placement of windows; the compositional device of the figure as seen from behind; and the treatment of solitude and shared attention.  This talk will be led by graduate student gallery talk lecturer, Ruth Ezra.