Copy Cat
I found it interesting to watch artists copying masterpieces in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. A little something from my archives to brighten up your day.
A stickler for detail ... I just scanned over 2000 images of European art on the Met's website to get the title and original artist. It is ...
"The Fortune Teller" by french artist Georges de La Tour (1593-1653) date probably 1630s
The painting catches a moment in which a young man of some wealth is having his fortune told by the old woman at right; she takes the coin from his hand, not only in payment, but as part of the ritual in which she will cross his hand with it. Most or all of the women portrayed are gypsies, and, furthering the stereotype of the time, they are depicted as thieves. As the young man is engrossed in the fortune-telling—an act which, if discovered, would have repercussions for both him and the gypsies—the leftmost woman is stealing the coin purse from his pocket, while her companion in profile has a hand ready to receive the loot. The pale-faced girl on the boy's left is less clearly a gypsy, but is also in on the act as she cuts a medal worn by the boy from its chain. The figures in the painting are close together, as if in a play, and the composition may have been influenced by a theatrical scene.
Explored #12 ... Thank you everyone!!
Copy Cat
I found it interesting to watch artists copying masterpieces in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. A little something from my archives to brighten up your day.
A stickler for detail ... I just scanned over 2000 images of European art on the Met's website to get the title and original artist. It is ...
"The Fortune Teller" by french artist Georges de La Tour (1593-1653) date probably 1630s
The painting catches a moment in which a young man of some wealth is having his fortune told by the old woman at right; she takes the coin from his hand, not only in payment, but as part of the ritual in which she will cross his hand with it. Most or all of the women portrayed are gypsies, and, furthering the stereotype of the time, they are depicted as thieves. As the young man is engrossed in the fortune-telling—an act which, if discovered, would have repercussions for both him and the gypsies—the leftmost woman is stealing the coin purse from his pocket, while her companion in profile has a hand ready to receive the loot. The pale-faced girl on the boy's left is less clearly a gypsy, but is also in on the act as she cuts a medal worn by the boy from its chain. The figures in the painting are close together, as if in a play, and the composition may have been influenced by a theatrical scene.
Explored #12 ... Thank you everyone!!