During the years 1654-59 Maes painted small-scale genre paintings showing simple domestic scenes. These employ a restricted palette dominated by browns and reds and a rich \'chiaroscuro\' (Italian for light-dark, meaning the balance of light and shadow), reflecting the training Maes had with Rembrandt in Amsterdam in the years around 1650. After 1660 Maes devoted himself exclusively to portraiture. On loan to the exhibition \'Rembrandt? The Master and his Workshop\' at the Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen from February to May 2006.