A Man with Dead Birds, and Other Figures, in a Stable

X-ray photographs reveal that the dog and dead game have been painted over the figure of a wounded man lying on the ground. These alterations must have been made after 1825, when it was included in a sale in its original state.

The painting is an early work, dating from the mid-1650s when de Hooch was still living in Delft. He painted several pictures depicting barn interiors with figures.