Gabriel Metsu. Usurer with a Tearful Woman ~1650
“…Here an unhappy debtor pathetically holds up a legal document, pleading for leniency. Hovering over his coins and strongbox, the stern old usurer appears unmoved. In a society that greatly valued thrift and the wise management of money, the painting may have been understood as a warning against the excesses of both borrower and lender.”
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
It was only a year ago when I took this picture.
