# Gypsy Fortune Teller [View the canonical artwork record]() ## Artwork - Artist: [MANFREDI, Bartolomeo]() - Date: 1601-1650 - Technique: Oil on canvas, 121 x 153 cm ## Commentary Manfredi's picture has none of the theatrical charm and bright, clear light of <A onclick="return OpenOther\('/html/c/caravagg/01/07fortun.html'\)" HREF="/html/c/caravagg/01/07fortun.html">Caravaggio's work,</A> it seems rather a melancholy meditation on human folly and cunning. Furtive figures, wrapped in shadow, stand in a sinister Roman 'vicolo'. The dark-skinned gypsy casts a harsh spell, while her accomplice steals the youth's coins, wrapped in a handkerchief. But the gypsy, too, is fooled, for behind her a rogue robs her of a chicken, doubtless stolen, from her gown; she promises the gifts of fortune, but loses her small possessions. The painting has something of the reality of the Roman streets, where gypsies were classed with vagabonds and beggars. ## Related artworks - [Allegory of the Four Seasons]() - [Bacchus and a Drinker]() - [Cain Slaying Abel]() - [Christ Blessing]() - [Cupid Chastised]() - [Lute Playing Young Man]() - [Tavern Scene with a Lute Player]() - [The Capture of Christ]() - [The Denial of St Peter]() - [The Triumph of David]() ## Attribution [Web Gallery of Art]()