The Oyster Meal

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.