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In this painting, like in his other compositions, the anonymous artist has chosen to present three figures in a pyramidal arrangement that stands out clearly against a dark brown background. An old woman is busy shaving the beard of a man, no longer young himself. Her left hand rests in an almost familiar way on his head, suggesting she might be his wife rather than an unknown person performing the barber's task. Her sole assistant is a young boy, who approaches holding a bowl with a chipped side. The silent gazes and sombre expressions are loaded with resignation and convey as much about the destitute condition of the sitters as the ragged material and threadbare clothes dwelt upon by the painter.
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