Lovesick, pregnancy

Jan Steen
1626, Leiden - 1679, Leiden, Netherlands

♦ The doctor's visit ♦

A doctor feels the pulse of a sick girl with a theatrical gesture while the mother holds the urine bottle. A ribbon is burned in a dish.

♦ Diagnosis
Main symptoms: Headache, burning ribbon.
Secondary symptoms: Young girl, theatrical behavior of the doctor and mother, boy with bow and arrow, Venus and Adonis in a painting on the wall
Clinical diagnosis: lovesickness, pregnancy.

♦ Definition: lovesickness
Falling in love or suffering from unrequited love and other associated feelings of love can cause serious physical problems in some people, such as anxiety, inflated self-esteem, and depression.

♦ Discussion
Jan Steen painted more than forty different versions of a doctor's visit, each featuring an elderly doctor examining a glass bottle of urine delivered by the patient, usually a young woman lying stretched out in bed or resting on cushions in a chair.
The painting of Venus and Adonis on the wall and the boy playing with a bow and arrow—a contemporary version of Cupid—are clear indications that a love affair is the cause of this illness.
The burning ribbon in the earthen dish at the girl's feet refers to a traditional folk custom used to determine whether the girl was pregnant. It was believed that a pregnant woman would become ill from the smoke released.

Source: Jan Dequeker

Jan Dequeker
The artist and the doctor look at paintings Photos
Wikimedia.org

http://www.lewesvoiceworks.org/i-attempt-from-loves-sickness-to-fly-parts/
https://francesmanwaring.com/tag/lovesickness/