1670 (ca.), Jan Steen, Bathsheba after the Bath -- Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
From the museum label: Depicted here is the moment from the biblical story when Bathsheba receives a letter of summons from King David. In Steen's interpretation Bathsheba is a temptress rather than the innocent victim of the king's passion. Unconcerned by her partial nudity, she stares brazenly at the viewer while her maidservant cuts her toenails. The shoe in the right foreground is a symbol of wantonness; the fountain probably alludes to fertility.
1670 (ca.), Jan Steen, Bathsheba after the Bath -- Getty Museum (Los Angeles)
From the museum label: Depicted here is the moment from the biblical story when Bathsheba receives a letter of summons from King David. In Steen's interpretation Bathsheba is a temptress rather than the innocent victim of the king's passion. Unconcerned by her partial nudity, she stares brazenly at the viewer while her maidservant cuts her toenails. The shoe in the right foreground is a symbol of wantonness; the fountain probably alludes to fertility.