# The Fortune Teller [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [VOUET, Simon]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 120 x 170 cm ## Commentary The Fortune Teller c. 1618 Oil on canvas, 120 x 170 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa A dark, handsome gypsy tells the fortune of a simpering young woman. Behind her a comic figure steals whatever the gypsy has hidden in her cloak, winking and signaling to an accomplice, who sports a ludicrously feathered fur hat and scraps of tattered finery. He points to the gypsy's victim, but she, despite her foolish look, seems to win the day, as she gestures toward the spectator, and invites him to enjoy the spectacle of the deceiver deceived. Vouet's painting, with its three-quarter length figures, owes much to <A onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/c/caravagg/01/07fortun.html'\)" HREF="/html/c/caravagg/01/07fortun.html">Caravaggio</A> and <A onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/m/manfredi/fortunet.html'\)" HREF="/html/m/manfredi/fortunet.html">Manfredi,</A> but it is more farcical in tone. ## Related artworks - [Allegorical Portrait of Anna of Austria as Minerva]() - [Allegory of Peace]() - [Allegory of Virtue]() - [Allegory of Wealth]() - [Annunciation]() - [Assembly of the Gods]() - [Birth of the Virgin]() - [Crucifixion]() - [Crucifixion]() - [Diana]() - [Eight Satyrs Admiring the Anamorphosis of an Elephant]() - [Euterpe, the Muse of Music and Lyric Poetry]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()