The Doctor's Visit (1660)
2
Artist | Jan Steen (b.1626, d.1679) |
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Title | The Doctor's Visit |
Date | 1660 |
Period | 17th century; 1660s |
Description | At first sight, this painting appears to record a simple visit by the doctor to a sick woman. However, Steen undermines the motives of both protagonists. The doctor is shown making a gesture of mock humility as he accepts a glass of wine from a servant. It is also suggested that the patient is, in fact, lovesick rather than suffering from a physical ailment as her lover can be glimpsed outside the window in the background. This interpretation is further suggested by the subject matter of the painting partially visible in the right hand corner which shows two lovers embracing. Jan Steen excelled in the rendering of textures as can be seen here in the satin of the maid's skirt. He was also renowned for the accuracy of the facial expressions of his figures through which he conveyed his domestic anecdotes. This work is datable around 1660 and relates to a painting of the same subject in the Mauritshuis, the Hague. There is no reason to suppose it is not an autograph work, if in poor condition in comparison with the other paintings Steen made with the same theme. Jan Steen It is not a straightforward copy of the Mauritshuis picture, but an independent version of the same subject. There are considerable differences between them. The main figures are closely similar, but they are differently placed within the picture space. There are also only three figures in the Mauritshuis version, but in this picture a fourth figure looks in from a window on the right which replaces an arched door. In the Mauritshuis picture the colour is different. The bed curtain is blue, not red as here, and the woman wears a light dress, not a dark velvet jacket and gold skirt as she does in this picture. The table is also on the right of the picture, not as here on the left where its structure is also partly visible beneath the carpet. Indeed the artist's signature is on the cross bar. In the Torrie picture an inquisitive black and white dog occupies the middle of the foreground, but it does not appear in the Mauritshuis painting. The painting on the wall in the latter seems to represent the battle of the Lapiths and Centaurs; certainly it is a scene of violence. In the Torrie picture only part of its equivalent painting on the wall is visible, but it is very different and clearly represents two lovers in an embrace. There is nothing really to identify them as Venus and Adonis, as suggested by Wright, however. The patient appears to be in the throes of fever until we realise she is sick with love - her lover can just be seen trough the window in the background. Wright also lists the picture as by Steen. Another version of this composition also exists in an English private collection. |
Material | oil paint (paint)/paint (coating); canvas (textile material)/textile materials/materials (substances) |
Dimensions | 57.2 x 71.1 cm |
Subject | genre scene |
Collection | Torrie Collection; Art Collection |
Signature | lower left hand corner signature. |
Accession Number | EU0738 |