# A Girl with a Mirror \(Allegory of Profane Love\)

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870/a-girl-with-a-mirror-allegory-of-profane-love-r56f8b3bc91258c>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [MOREELSE, Paulus](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870>)
- Date: 1601-1650
- Technique: Oil on canvas, 106 x 83 cm

## Commentary

The protagonist in this painting is a voluptuous young woman invitingly displaying her décolleté. The objects on the table \(gold jewellery, strings of pearls, a leather case with three gold rings set with precious stones, and a small open book identify the maiden as a personification of profane love, or the Profane Venus. The subject of the painting on the back wall and the text and image in the little book complete the composition. They allude to Eros, the longing for material wealth and sexual desire.

## Related artworks

- [Design of Catharijnepoort in Utrecht](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870/design-of-catharijnepoort-in-utrecht-r1b717108318703>)
- [Portrait of a Woman](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870/portrait-of-a-woman-r9f83f4ce44359b>)
- [Portrait of a Young Boy](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870/portrait-of-a-young-boy-r19872d0736bbe5>)
- [Portrait of a Young Woman](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870/portrait-of-a-young-woman-rece05fce5add7c>)
- [Sophia Hedwig, Countess of Nassau Dietz, with her Three Sons](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870/sophia-hedwig-countess-of-nassau-dietz-with-her-three-sons-r10a8e0ad221978>)
- [Venus and Cupid](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870/venus-and-cupid-rd1c3785ef38fae>)
- [Vertumnus and Pomona](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/moreelse-paulus-r22c2c0a68ef870/vertumnus-and-pomona-r24f407a89ffa48>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)