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The Sick Girl
Jan Steenc. 1660
Mauritshuis
Den Haag, Netherlands
One of Jan Steen’s favourite subjects was the doctor’s visit, or the sick girl. It is a humorous theme that was perfectly suited to Steen’s style.
A languishing young girl is being examined by the doctor. He is being fooled, as the girl is pretending to suffer from a ‘wandering womb’, a condition that was taken very seriously by doctors in those days. The only remedy was for the patient to sleep with her lover. And that is exactly what this girl intends to do.
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Details
- Title: The Sick Girl
- Creator: Steen, Jan
- Date Created: c. 1660
- Physical Dimensions: h57.7 cm x w46.2 cm
- Provenance: Govert van Slingelandt, The Hague, in or before 1752; his widow Agatha Huydecoper, The Hague, 1767-1768; Van Slingelandt sale, The Hague, 18 May 1768 (Lugt 1683), no. 34; the entire collection sold to Prince William V in 1768; Prince William V, The Hague, 1768-1795; confiscated by the French, transferred to the Muséum central des arts/Musée Napoléon (Musée du Louvre), Paris, 1795-1815; Royal Picture Gallery, housed in the Prince William V Gallery, The Hague, 1816; transferred to the Mauritshuis in 1822
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil on panel
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