Girl eating oysters

Jan Steen's Girl Eating Oysters from around 1658-60, in the Mauritshuis, depicts a young woman offering the viewer an oyster with a knowing smile, a subject laden with erotic symbolism in Dutch culture. Oysters were widely recognized aphrodisiacs, and the salt cellar on the table was also associated with sexual availability. Steen combines this innuendo with a technical tour de force—the girl's radiant expression and the pearlescent oyster shells are rendered with dazzling skill.

The composition focuses attention on the girl's engaging expression and the glistening oyster through strong directional lighting. Steen's technique achieves remarkable effects in the rendering of the nacreous shell surfaces and the translucent quality of the girl's skin.