The Lovesick Maiden

The Lovesick Maiden

The Lovesick Maiden

Doctors are a familiar target of parody in the original Lewest Leeen, home of the famous medical school.
Borrowing from the comic stage, Steen identifies the old man as a dukun with his strange clothes, while the young woman's illness is suggested by Cupid over the door, and other gestures like an open bed. The picture dates to about 1660.

Provenance

Pieter Ietswaart, Amsterdam (up to 1759; his anonymous sale, Amsterdam, March 13, 1759, No. 3, for fl. 130)
Pieter de La Court van der Voort, Leiden (until 1772; his sale, Amsterdam, August 26, 1772, No. 4, to Fl 350 to? De Neuville)
sales, Amsterdam, June 21ff, 1774, no. 206, for fl. 250 to? Fouquet
Johan Fredrik Motte, Amsterdam (until 1794; sales, Amsterdam, 20-25 August, 1794, No. 107, to fl. 172 to Fouquet)
Pierre Fouquet, Amsterdam; private collection, Brunswick, Germany (sold to Van Diemen); [Galerie Van Diemen, Berlin, in 1920]
Mrs. Francis (Helen Swift) Neilson, Chicago (in 1924 - d 1945)

Artist:
Jan Steen (Dutch, Leiden 1626–1679 Leiden)
Date:
ca. 1660
Medium:
Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
34 x 39 in. (86.4 x 99.1 cm)
Classification:
Paintings
Credit Line:
Bequest of Helen Swift Neilson, 1945

Copyright Image
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