Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Fortune-Teller with Soldiers
Valentin de Boulogne French
Not on view
Perhaps the culminating work of Valentin’s early career, this picture of fortune-telling, deception, stealing, and drinking astonishes for its combination of naturalistic description, the orchestration of varied expressions and actions, and theatricality. Life itself is encapsulated by the innocent-seeming child stealing from the cloaked man who steals from the gypsy who tells the fortune of a young, enamored soldier. The seated figure in the foreground links the viewer’s space with that of the picture.
Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
