Woman at her Toilet, Jan Havicksz. Steen, 1655 - 1660
oil on panel, h 37cm × w 27.5cm More details
This is an intimate moment – a girl undressing before going to bed. She is just pulling off a stocking. The indentation left by her garter is visible just below her knee. Her raised skirt allows the viewer a peak up along her bare legs. The image’s explicit eroticism did not always find favour; until a hundred years ago, an underskirt was painted over her thighs.