The Sick Girl by Jan Steen (1626–1679), a Dutch Golden Age painter, is a fascinating artwork connected to the history of medicine. This oil on panel was painted around 1660 and is now housed in the Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The painter depicts a young girl who appears too weak to support her own arm as the doctor checks her pulse. According to the traditional interpretation of the scene, the girl is pretending to suffer from a Wandering Womb, a physiological condition historically associated with hysteria. In the medical beliefs of the time, one supposed “remedy” for this disorder was to sleep with a lover – precisely the outcome the young girl is suggested to be aiming for.
- Photos by Luca Borghi ti.supmacinu|ihgrob.l#| (July 2025) and page layout by Elena Rugolo (December 2025)
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Bibliography
- Jan Steen. The Sick Girl. c. 1660. Oil on panel, 57.7 × 46.2 cm. Inventory no. 167. On view in Room 14,
- Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis