Life

Steen was born in Leiden, where his well-to-do, Catholic family had run the tavern The Red Halbert for several generations. Like his even more famous contemporary Rembrandt van Rijn (1606 - 1669) Jan Steen attended the Latin school in Leiden. He received his painterly education from Nicolaes Knupfer (1603-1660), a German painter of historical and figurative scenes in Utrecht. Influences of Knupfer can be found in Steen's use of composition and colour. Another source of inspiration was Adriaen van Ostade (1610 - 1685), painter of rural scenes, who lived in Haarlem. Whether Steen actually studied with Ostade is not known. Leyden redirects here. ... This article is about the Dutch painter. ... Events January 27 - The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins ending in their execution on January 31 May 17 - Supporters of Vasili Shusky invade the Kremlin and kill Premier Dmitri December 26 - Shakespeares King Lear performed in court Storm buries a village of St Ismails near... // Events Samuel Pepys stopped writing his diary. ... The Latin school was the grammar school of earlier times in Europe. ... Year 1603 (MDCIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... // Events January 1 - Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. ... Utrecht ( (help· info)) is a municipality and the capital city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. ... Peasants in a Tavern by Adriaen van Ostade (c. ... // Events January 7 - Galileo Galilei discovers the Galilean moons of Jupiter. ... Events February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. ... Coordinates: Country Netherlands Province North Holland Area (2006)  - Municipality 32. ...

In 1648 Jan Steen joined the Sint Lucas Guild of painters at Leiden, but soon after became an assistant to renowned landscape painter Jan van Goyen (1596-1656) and moved into his house on the Bierkade in The Hague. On Oct 3, 1649 he married van Goyen's daughter Margriet, with whom he would have seven children. Steen worked with his father-in-law until 1654, when he moved to Delft, where he ran brewery De Roscam (The Curry Comb) without much success. He lived in Warmond from 1656 till 1660 and in Haarlem from 1660 till 1670 in which period he was especially productive. In 1670, after the death of his wife in 1669 and his father in 1670, Steen moved back to Leiden, where he stayed the rest of his life. In April 1673 he married again, with Maria van Egmont, who gave him another child. In 1674 he became president of the Sint Lucas Guild. He died in Leiden in 1679 and was interred in a family grave in the Pieterskerk. 1648 (MDCXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... River Scene Jan van Goyen (January 13, 1596, Leiden - April 27, 1656, The Hague) was a Dutch landscape painter. ... Events February 5 - 26 catholics crucified in Nagasaki, Japan. ... // Events Mehmed Köprülü becomes Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. ... Coordinates: Country Netherlands Province South Holland Area (2006)  - Municipality 98. ... 3rd October Organization is also the name of a Marxist terrorist group . ... // Events January 30 - King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland is beheaded. ... Events April 5 - Signing of the Treaty of Westminster, ending the First Anglo-Dutch War. ... Country Netherlands Province South Holland Coordinates Area 24. ... Warmond (population: 4,977 in 2004) is a village in the western Netherlands, north of Leiden in the province of South Holland. ... // Events Mehmed Köprülü becomes Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. ... // Events January 1 - Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. ... Coordinates: Country Netherlands Province North Holland Area (2006)  - Municipality 32. ... // Events January 1 - Colonel George Monck with his regiment crosses from Scotland to England at the village of Coldstream and begins advance towards London in support of English Restoration. ... 1670 was a common year beginning on a Saturday in countries using the Julian calendar and a Wednesday in countries using the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events Samuel Pepys stopped writing his diary. ... Events February 19 - England and the Netherlands sign the Treaty of Westminster. ...

Works

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

An overview of Jan Steen's life, and an analysis of "The Feast of Saint Nicholas."

Daily life was Jan Steen's main pictorial theme. Many of the genre scenes he portrayed are lively to the point of chaos and lustfulness, even so much that a Jan Steen household, meaning a messy scene, became a Dutch proverb (een huishouden van Jan Steen). Subtle hints in his paintings seem to suggest that Steen meant to warn the viewer rather than invite him/her to copy this behaviour. Many of Steen's paintings bear references to old Dutch proverbs or literature. He often used members of his family as models. Jan Steen painted also quite a few self-portraits, in which he showed no tendency of vanity. Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Genre works, also called genre scenes or genre views, are pictorial representations in any of various media that represent scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, and street scenes. ...

Steen did not shy from other themes: he painted historical, mythological and religious scenes, portraits, still lifes and natural scenes. His portraits of children are famous. He is also well known for his mastery of light and attention to detail, most notably in textiles. Steen was prolific, producing about 800 paintings, of which roughly 350 survive. A still life is a work of art which represents a subject composed of inanimate objects. ...

Steen's work was valued much by contemporaries and as a result he was reasonably well paid for his work. He did not have any students, but his work proved a source of inspiration for many painters.

See also

• The Feast of Saint Nicholas
• The Marriage Contract of Tobias and Sarah

The Feast of Saint Nicholas, or Het Sint Nicolaasfeest in Dutch, painted c. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Jan Steen

• Olga Gallery
• Web Gallery of art
• Artcyclopedia entry with many links