The Fortune Teller

painting by Georges de La Tour

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July 19, 2026

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"The Fortune Teller" is a painting by Georges de La Tour, likely created in the 1630s. It is considered a morality picture, characterized by its crowded composition, unlike La Tour's more sparsely populated religious works.1

The painting depicts a fashionably dressed young man who is so engrossed by the fortune teller that he fails to notice his pockets being picked by her three assistants. The fortune teller is portrayed as ugly, and the young man has an expression of revulsion, making him oblivious to the theft. La Tour painted several similar cautionary tales featuring young men being cheated, often in card games. Georges de La Tour was a French painter known for his candlelit subjects, though his work was largely forgotten until the 20th century.12

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The Fortune Teller (probably 1630s)
Ghirlandaio Georges de La Tour secured an important patron, the duc de Lorraine and, in the late 1630s, came to the notice of King Louis XIII. The king was so impressed that it was said he insisted a painting by La…
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Ghirlandaio Georges de La Tour secured an important patron, the duc de Lorraine and, in the late 1630s, came to the notice of King Louis XIII. The king was so impressed that it was said he insisted a painting by La…
Read More