_Cornelis Pietersz Bega_ (Dutch: 1620-1664).
This painter, who lived and died at Haarlem, was the son of
a sculptor and a pupil of Adrian van Ostade. "Though," says
Havard (p. 148), "a more finished draughtsman, with more
regard for grace of form and for the beauty of his figures,
in all other respects he was very inferior to Ostade. When we
notice his dry and heavy execution, his ruddy flesh-colouring,
and his opaque shadows, we are surprised that he should have so
far neglected the examples placed before him."
This picture, executed throughout with extreme care and finish, is
signed, and dated 1663.