1685
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Drunken Couple is a 1685 by Cornelis Dusart, a Baroque work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
A man and woman slump at a table, wine glasses tipped, cheeks flushed. The woman’s bonnet is crooked; the man’s hat has fallen off. These scenes were meant to make people laugh, but they also warned against drinking. Preachers said it led to sin, and a drunk woman could ruin a home—and society with it. Look up other works in the subject: netherlands to see more of these moral lessons.
Images of intoxicated individuals were intended to be humorous, but they also had serious undertones. Moralizing texts and preachers described drinking as sinful, immoral, and a threat to social norms. Accordingly, a drunk woman, as seen here, compromised the well-being of the home, which was thought to have an impact on society as a whole.
Thatched roofs like the one depicted here were popular throughout Europe until the 1800s. Many of the thatched roofs in Europe today contain straw dating back to the 1600s.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Cornelis Dusart (April 24, 1660 – October 1, 1704) was a Dutch genre painter, drawer (artists), and printmaker.
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