Jan Steen - The Lovesick Maiden [c.1660]

Jan Steen - The Lovesick Maiden [c.1660], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Doctors were familiar targets of parody in Steen's native Leiden, the home of a famous medical school. Borrowing from the comic stage, Steen identifies the old man as a quack by his peculiar clothing, while the nature of the young lady's malady is suggested by the Cupid over the door, and other intimations like the open bed.

[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil on canvas, 86.4 x 99.1 cm]