A Baroque St. Patrick’s Day

The Fortune Teller (1620) Vouet

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! As St. Patrick’s day celebrations were started by Irish emigrants as a way to remember the homeland, you won’t find any Baroque paintings of the saint.

Instead, we will take a look at Simon Vouet’s amazing take on the popular Fortune Teller theme. The left half of the painting is similar to Caravaggios’s with a beautiful young woman reading the palm of an enraptured man. The eye contact between them makes it clear he is fully under her spell.

On the right side of the painting we see an old Crone staring right at us, with her hand inside the man’s pocket and her other hand on his shoulder making the “fig sign” - basically the equivalent of the middle finger in the USA. Her smile says to me - "can you believe this guy? this is way too easy."
What is she saying to you?

This painting, named "The Fortune Teller" (1620) is located at the Palazzo Barberini in Rome.