The Oyster Eater

For The Oyster Eater by James Ensor, see The Oyster Eater (Ensor).

Jan Steen, The Oyster Eater or Girl Offering Oysters, 1658–1660, oil on panel

The Oyster Eater (Dutch: Het oestereetstertje) or Girl Offering Oysters (Meisje, oesters aanbiedend) is a small oil-on-panel painting by Jan Steen dating to c.1658–1660.[1] Since 1936, it has been in the collection of the Mauritshuis in the Hague.[1] It is a genre painting that demonstrates Steen's intricate style and use of domestic settings.[2] It also shows Steen's use of symbolism with oysters to create a theme of earthly lust.[2]

  1. ^ a b "Jan Steen, 'Het oestereetstertje', c. 1658 - 1660". Mauritshuis (in Dutch). Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  2. ^ a b Kahr, Madlyn Millner (2018-02-23), "Landscape and Seascape", Dutch Painting in the Seventeenth Century, Routledge, pp. 204–239, doi:10.4324/9780429500893-10, ISBN 9780429500893