The Fortune Teller by Georges de La Tour, painted around 1630, presents a carefully staged scene in which a young aristocrat consults a group of women who appear to be telling his fortune, while in reality they are robbing him. The composition is structured with remarkable clarity, each figure positioned almost parallel to the picture plane, which gives the scene a theatrical stillness. La Tour, a leading figure of the French Baroque, was influenced by Caravaggio’s realism, yet his approach is more controlled and silent. Here, light is even and restrained, allowing the viewer to focus on the subtle gestures of the hands as they remove the young man’s purse and cut his pocket. The painting functions as both a genre scene and a moral warning about vanity, naivety, and social deception. Today it is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and it remains one of La Tour’s most compelling explorations of illusion and human vulnerability.
TitleThe Fortune Teller (La Diseuse de bonne aventure)
ArtistGeorges de La Tour (French Baroque painter of Caravaggesque genre and religious chiaroscuro nocturnes by candlelight; Vic-sur-Seille, Duchy of Lorraine, baptised 14 March 1593 - Lunéville, 30 January 1652; in his own lifetime court painter to King Louis XIII and Duke Charles IV of Lorraine; almost entirely forgotten after his death until rediscovered by the German scholar Hermann Voss in 1915)
Year of creationc. 1630-1635 (the date remains disputed within the artist's career — older scholarship dated the picture as late as the early 1640s, but recent scholarship tends to place it earlier, in the late 1620s or first half of the 1630s, as a relatively youthful exercise in the international Caravaggesque genre manner that La Tour shared with Valentin de Boulogne, Nicolas Régnier and the Utrecht Caravaggisti. The composition is one of the supreme Caravaggesque day-lit genre scenes of the seventeenth century: a fashionably dressed young gentleman, callow and supremely self-confident in his richly slashed and embroidered doublet, has his fortune told by a withered, deeply lined old gypsy woman at the right, who reads the coin she has just received from him while two younger gypsy accomplices on the left close in behind his back to cut the strings of his purse and slide a gold medal off his chain. A fifth figure, a fair-haired young woman to the left, watches the trick with cool calculation. The picture is a moralising warning against the deceptions and vanities of youth and the pickpocketing tricks of gypsies, then a stock subject of seventeenth-century European literature and theatre, but La Tour transforms what could be a vulgar genre scene into a stark, monumental, almost frieze-like composition of five half-length figures, brilliantly lit by a single broad daylight from the left and locked together by a network of subtle glances and silent gestures. The painting belongs to La Tour's so-called "daylight" or diurnal manner, distinguished from his more famous nocturnal candlelit pictures of the 1640s; together with The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds at the Louvre and the various Hurdy-Gurdy Players, it is one of his greatest day-lit canvases. The authenticity of the Met's signature has occasionally been questioned, but the prevailing scholarly view today accepts the picture as autograph)
Technique/MediumOil on canvas (signed and inscribed upper right: "G. de La Tour Fecit / Luneuilla Lothar." — "Made by G. de La Tour, Lunéville in Lorraine")
Original dimensions101.9 x 123.5 cm
Collection/MuseumMetropolitan Museum of Art, New York (Rogers Fund, accession 60.30; acquired in 1960 amid considerable controversy — the picture's purchase by the Met from the Wildenstein gallery in Paris provoked a major diplomatic protest from French art-historical circles, since the painting had been exported from France without an export licence on the grounds that it was a worthless studio copy, and only the recently formed Comité Georges de La Tour had recognised it as autograph; François Mitterrand, then a deputy, raised the question in the National Assembly)
We provide Worldwide Shipping with tracking to most locations around the world. We operate a global production network, which allows us to produce and deliver orders locally for free. Our production facilities are located in the US, Canada, UK, Spain, and Australia.
Shipping times around the world vary based on your location. Here are our estimated delivery times from the day of purchase:
US, Canada: 7-10 business days
Continental US, Alaska and Hawaii: 10-14 business days
UK: 7-10 business days
Australia: 7-10 business days
EU: 10-14 business days
Rest of the World: 14 business days
Above times are estimates, and include handling time to prepare your order. Business days exclude weekends and holidays. Please refer to the delivery time specific to your shipping address that is presented during the checkout.
We currently ship with the following global shipping partners: FedEx, UPS, DHL, GLS, Canada Post, Royal Mail, Aramex, and Australia Post.
Museum-quality reproductions
Each print is crafted with meticulous care, ensuring every detail captures the essence of the original masterpiece.
This way, you receive the most faithful reproduction possible, bringing the museum experience directly into your home.
Bright & intensive color spectrum. Best choice if you plan to frame it by yourself/local craft shop.
*Requests framing (frame is not included with this option)
Canvas Features
Our gallery wrapped canvas framed with a wooden frame and ready to hang out of the box with hanging hardware pre-installed.
*Specially coated with poly-cot canvas for the highest durability and best color vibrancy. Archival grade canvas.
Black Frame
Black floating frame is a popular add-on to any canvas during the purchase. The frame is build using our proprietary profile radial pine, and coated with black graphite that gives it a gallery quality, luxurious matte finish.
I simply love the portrait of the three black cats! - flawless print, elegant frame and quick shipping with sufficient packaging.
I will be coming back for more!
Thank you! <3
Extremely clear and detailed. Photo is the print with museum grade glass.
You could look at it a hundred times and still notice a different detail each time.
We absolutely love this print! We framed it and displayed it in our sacred space area. Great addition to our decor and a powerful piece of art. Many thanks.
Okay, let me start by saying this is my favorite painting of all time. I love skulls. I am beyond thrilled to own this piece and show it off to all who enter! I cannot believe this was painted in 1533.. It stirs me. 10/10 piece. Easy.
I am attaching two photos of the upper left corner where the crucifix lies hidden in plain sight. I am disappointed that the wrap of the canvas wasn't very tight on this one. Because of the loose wrapping.. you can clearly see that the crucifix is mirrored from the printing job and it kind of ruins that corner of the piece because it is a detail you aren't suppose to notice right away. Unfortunately it sticks out in plain view. I plan to take black paint and just tape off the edge and fill the outer edge so the crucifix has a proper corner to inhabit. Although, I am hesitant to try and alter something so expensive.. Not sure what to do.
Solid as usual. Solid as always. The Last Days of Pompeii is dramatic and moody; just what I wanted. Print quality is sharp, colors are faithful. The artwork is theatrical, and work well on canvas. I'm a history nut and have had a fascination with Pompeii since my teens, so this one had to join my collection. Happy with it.
We made our first purchase from Inspiraggio, The Beheading of St John the Baptist | Caravaggio | 1608.
We absolutely love it. The quality and framing are amazing. It changes the whole room.
Thanks!!!
I ordered two paintings from Inspiraggio, and both are of incredible quality and remarkably faithful to the originals. The canvas and frame both feel sturdy, and the level of detail is truly impressive. I’m delighted with my purchases and would definitely order from them again in the future
Very pretty. I knew I had to have 'Vanity' when I saw it. 'The Great Red Dragon...' is... great as well. Both quality prints, really like how they look in my apartment.
It's a masterpiece! It really fits the horror theme of my office room. It scares my wife but that what I was going for. I will definitely order more photos, not just for me but as gifts as well. I already have "the laughing fool" picture on the way. Thank you guys
Very poorly packaged—thin cardboard; I don't know how it survived shipping. The stretcher frame is too weak, leaving the canvas sagging and barely taut; at least one extra crossbar needs to be added to get the tension up to an acceptable standard. Check pictures, description diameters for package was overestimated few cm.