The mistress of the house descends the steep wooden stairs in order to surprise her servants, who are misbehaving in the basement. She bids the viewer, with finger to lips, not to give her away. Maes trained with Rembrandt, where he learned to make everything tactile as well as visible – evident here in the soft light and thick shadows as well as the wood, fur and linen.

Acquired by George IV in 1811, when Prince of Wales