Jan Steen

Jan Steen is famous for his pictoral puns. His humorous paintings of dissolute households, merrymaking peasants outside inns, quacks at village fairs, and lovesick maidens tended by sham doctors are known the world over. Steen was unsurpassed in his ability to poke fun at every conceivable human weakness and vice. His narrative scenes make us laugh, but also teach us lessons. In addition, his large and varied oeuvre contains important history paintings. Steen was both a true storyteller and a gifted painter, whose favourite subject was everyday life. The Mauritshuis owns a sizeable collection of paintings by Jan Steen, including such famous works as The Oyster Eater, The Poultry Yard and As the Old Sing, So Twitter the Young. This book illuminates the beautiful collection of Jan Steens in the Mauritshuis, and also offers a brief overview of the art of this popular master.