# A Man Caressing the Young Hostess

- By: Cornelis Pietersz. Bega (Dutch, 1631/32-1664)
- Date: 1660/64
- Medium: Etching in black on ivory laid paper
- Classification: Print
- Dimensions: Image: 19.8 × 16.5 cm (7 13/16 × 6 1/2 in.); Sheet, trimmed within platemark: 22.6 × 17.3 cm (8 15/16 × 6 13/16 in.)
- Culture: Netherlands
- Credit line: John H. Wrenn Memorial Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/23829)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/6f27b760-6202-3b82-4b93-a464c3223501/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

Cornelis Pietersz Bega’s talents were wide-ranging—from painting and drawing to etching—and genre scenes of everyday Dutch life were his principal subjects. In this etching, Bega depicted an interaction between lecherous drunkards and a young tavern hostess. On the makeshift barrel table are a bottle of alcohol and coals for the pipe. The ace of spades, one of the three playing cards scattered on the ground, symbolizes death, suggesting the work’s moralizing message.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0