The work by the French artist Georges de la Tour draws directly from Caravaggio’s output. The scene adopts a theme made popular in northern Europe through engravings and in Rome by the aforementioned Caravaggio: an old Romani woman (known by the term “gypsy”) tells fortunes to a young man who observes her predictions with a certain distrust. Surrounding him are three female figures with certainly dishonest intentions who are in cahoots with the old woman to rob the young man of various items, thus assimilating a pejorative conception of this ethnic-social group.
Collection: Images
Project: 4. Family, daily life and social inequality in Europe., 7. Persecuted by justice and powers: rebels, political dissidents and criminals in the history of Europe., 9. Travels and travelers: economic, social and cultural connections.
Chronology: XVI
Scope: Secondary education, Baccalaureate, University
Resource type: Image
Format: Oil on canvas (101,9 x 123,5 cm)
Source: Museo Metropolitano de Nueva York (Nueva York)
Language: English
Date: 1630
Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)
Identifier: 60.30
Copyright: Museo Metropolitano de Nueva York (Nueva York)
Abstract: An elderly woman, while reading the fortune, distracts a young man while the group of women pick a certain amount of money from his pocket
Image
Tags
