# The Lovesick Maiden

**Jan Steen** (Dutch, 1626–1679)  
ca. 1660  
Oil on canvas  
34 x 39 in. (86.4 x 99.1 cm)

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 46.13.2. [The museum's record](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437748).

## About this work

A pale young woman sits slumped and listless, attended by a doctor, while others look on. In Jan Steen’s many versions of the doctor’s visit, the diagnosis is never really medical: clues around the room, such as the bed and the little dog, point to love or even pregnancy, and the solemn physician is often a figure of fun. Contemporary viewers relished decoding such details. Steen tells the story with crisp light, rich fabrics and a comedian’s timing.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Jan Steen painted this in about 1660, aged about 29. It is now at The Met in New York.

### How it was made

- **Oil paint.** Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.

### [Jan Steen](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/jan-steen)

Dutch, 1626–1679; born in Leiden; died in Leiden

Steen was born in Leiden, the son of a brewer, and worked there and in The Hague, Delft and Haarlem; for a time he also ran a brewery and later an inn. He was one of the most inventive Dutch genre painters, filling crowded, comic scenes of households, taverns and feasts with moral warnings drawn from proverbs and the theatre. A disorderly home is still called “a Jan Steen household” in Dutch. He also painted portraits and biblical subjects.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

## Facts

- Type: Paintings
- The artist was about 29
- Real size: about 34 × 39 in (86 × 99 cm). The 24 × 36 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: Interiors, Bedrooms, Men, Women, Dogs, Beds
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1160.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1160/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86; 24 × 36 in $108
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208; 24 × 36 in $258
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5; 24 × 36 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/the-lovesick-maiden-met-437748).