
What Do Women Want
48" x 60"
1985
Collection of Dr. Lloyd Harris
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp, in which the famous surgeon was shown discussing the ligaments that control the fingers, was painted when Rembrandt was twenty-six and was his first major success. What else, I wondered, might the good doctors be studying so attentively? Danæ was originally reaching out to welcome her lover, Zeus, appearing to her disguised as a shower of gold. The title, borrowed from Freud's famous question, does not lack for answers today, but Rembrandt's doctors seem to be puzzled. Danæ herself appears to be looking beyond them for a solution.
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