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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Girl Eating Oysters, Jan Steen |
| Library | Mauritshuis |
| Date | c.1658-1660 |
| Description | This is the smallest painting Jan Steen ever made. A young woman looks at us while sprinkling salt on an oyster. Spread out on the table before her is a beautifully painted still life, consisting of oysters, a Delft blue pitcher next to a glass of wine, a silver tray containing a half-eaten roll and a little mound of salt and peppercorns spilling out of a paper cone. More oysters are being prepared in the kitchen in the background. This painting bears a resemblance to the work of the Leiden 'fine painter' Frans van Mieris. The similarities include the small format, the refined execution of the fur and the velvet, and the scene's erotic undertones (in the seventeenth century oysters were thought to be an aphrodisiac). |
| Document Type | Painting |
| Primary Commodity | Miscellaneous |
| Theme | Social Practice; Art and Literature |
| Keywords | salt, alcohol, glass, spices, pepper, paper, fur, fish, oysters |
| Region | Europe |
| Additional Information | Steen made this painting while living in Warmond, near Leiden, where Van Mieris worked. |
| Copyright | Jan Steen, 1626-1679, Girl eating oysters, c. 1658-1660, Panel, 20.5 x 14.5 cm (rounded upper edges), Mauritshuis, The Hague |