Jan Steen's Histories

English edition of JAN STEEN EN DE HISTORIESCHILDERKUNST (9789462621657).

Meet Jan Steen as you probably didn't know him before. This seventeenth century Dutch artist is mainly known as the painter of jolly and somewhat chaotic scenes from daily life - there is even a proverb in Dutch that refers to this, the 'Jan Steen household'. But the artist also depicted entirely different subjects: paintings showing stories from the Bible, classical mythology, and history. A prime example is Moses and the Pharaoh's Crown at the Mauritshuis. These are stories filled with excitement, drama, and passion. Through a selection of roughly twenty paintings, the exhibition shows that Steen was a versatile and ambitious artist, with considerable literary knowledge and a keen eye for the comical aspects of each story.