Some artists focus their efforts on a single genre and work in a narrow framework, while others apply their skills to various fields and manage to succeed in all of them. Thus, the paintings of Gabriel Metsu, an outstanding Dutch painter of the Golden Age period cannot be attributed to a single genre. Not mixing them, Metsu created genre works, historical and portraiture paintings Working on a homework helper on Metsu’s aesthetics and a homework assignment on Metsu’s contribution to the Dutch painting tradition, I came across a rather controversial data on his heritage and personal life. On the one hand, these controversies which became the basis for the debates of theoreticians can be explained with a relatively remote period of the Dutch Golden Age. On the other hand, Metsu’s talent and extreme working productivity which allowed him to work in several genres made him a rather controversial figure even for his contemporaries. Metsu frequently depicted young women selling vegetables and other goods which had a significant impact upon his reputation as a painter of genre works. However, the well-known painting entitled the Portrait of the Family Hinlopen clearly demonstrates the artist’s achievements in the genre of the group portrait. This painting can be viewed in the Berlin Gemaldegalerie. By the way, some theoreticians doubt whether this work can be attributed to the portraiture genre and are inclined to characterize it as a sample of genre works.