Dou was born at Leiden. He was a pupil of Rembrandt from 1628 until the latter moved to Amsterdam, probably in 1631. Dou rarely travelled outside Leiden, although he was invited to England by Charles II. He was a genre painter and founder of the school of the so-called fijnschilders (fine painters). His style was greatly admired and his work was much sought after in his own day. A number of pictures, for example, were sent to Sweden for the collection of Queen Christina. His reputation lasted into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The symbolism of the vine and the grapes has been extensively discussed (E. de Jongh, ‘Grape Symbolism in Paintings of the 16th and 17th Centuries’, Simiolus, vol. VII). In this picture the girl holds up a bunch of grapes so enticingly that their inclusion suggests she was of easy virtue. The decoration in the arch above the window is freely copied from one of the sculptured overdoors in the north gallery of Amsterdam Town Hall, probably based on a print. The coat of arms is probably an heraldic improvisation.