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Centre stage, against a shadowy, mostly black-and-white background, the bright red jacket inevitably draws our eye to the young woman. She leans back -- rather immodestly, a glass of wine held in her lap, knees apart, one foot up on a box -- and smiles directly up at the man offering her an oyster.This not a polite gesture of thanks for the offer of a canapé to go with her wine. In seventeenth-century Holland, the connotations would have been understood immediately. Oysters were regarded as both an aphrodisiac and a reference to female sexuality: the man's offer is an erotic advance.Other clues confirm the interpretation. The cat is a traditional symbol of lust, there is a curtained bed in the background and the table is supported by carvings of naked women, draped with garlands.
Title
An Interior with a Man offering an Oyster to a Woman
Date
probably 1660-5
Medium
Oil on oak
Measurements
H 38.1 x W 31.5 cm
Accession number
NG2559
Acquisition method
Salting Bequest, 1910
Work type
Painting
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