Gerard Dou and still life with sleeping dog

'Still life with sleeping dog' (1650) by Gerard Dou; Private Collection

I saw this painting featured in the exhibition Made in Holland at The Mauritshuis in The Hague and it is tiny! And adorable as well so you want to take it home with you but have to settle for the postcard. Although small in size, it's absolutely great in detail. The painter of this lovely portrait of a dog is Gerard Dou, also known as Gerrit Dou, born on April 7, 1613, and died on February 9, 1675. I will call him Gerard. I'm so used to Gerard because of the street named after him in Amsterdam. He was one of the Leiden Fijnschilders (fine-painters) whose aim was to reproduce reality on canvas as detailed as possible. I really love this painting but it was still difficult to chose between this one and the one of the old woman reading, known as Rembrandt's Mother, that's on display at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. It's a little bit like cheating to give you the link here because it feels like posting two paintings now.