"'He was definitely a storyteller,' says Arthur Wheelock, curator of the National Gallery’s Metsu exhibit, 'but giving us a beginning, middle and end to the story was not what he was after.' He wanted you to ponder the painting. 'I think these paintings were huge points of discussion in drawing rooms all through the Netherlands in the 17th century,” Wheelock adds. http://books0977.tumblr.com/post/133565196672/interior-with-a-lady-at-a-spinet-and-a-gentleman