The Oyster Meal

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The Oyster Meal

Frans van Mieris the Elder
1661

819 - zaal 15

This painting is regarded as the counterpart to Van Mieris’ Teasing the Pet, which is also hanging in the Mauritshuis. Although that painting dates from a year earlier, it is identical in size. It also has a similar theme – seduction. A man is trying to seduce a woman by offering her oysters, a delicacy known as an aphrodisiac. The man (Van Mieris himself) is obviously successful, as the woman (Van Mieris’ wife) is provocatively showing him her bosom.

oil sur panel
27.6 x 20.8 cm.
Gift Sir Henri W.A. Deterding, London, 1936