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Merry Company on a Terrace by Jan Steen

Jan Steen · 1670-01-01

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In Jan Steen's "Merry Company on a Terrace" (1670), a woman in blue looks directly out at you and smiles. That is the whole painting. It is also, quietly, one of the most generous things a 17th-century Dutch painter could give you.

The direct gaze and unguarded grin are unusually vivid for the period. Genre scenes typically kept their figures absorbed in their own worlds, drinking, flirting, making music. But Steen painted his own life into his work. The woman is almost certainly his wife, Margriet, and the eight children they raised flicker through the crowd in various guises. The boy at the dog. The faces in the background. The chaos is domestic.

Steen ran a tavern in Leiden when painting alone could not support his family. He knew revelry up close, the noise, the mess, the human warmth beneath it. That is why his moralizing never feels cruel. He loved the people he painted.

What do you read in her expression? Warmth, or something more complicated?

#arthistory #dutchgoldenage #jansteen

Details

The compositional anchor; her bright saturated blue is the only cool hue in a warm scene, and her open smile directly engages the viewer , Steen's invitation into the revelry.
The compositional anchor; her bright saturated blue is the only cool hue in a warm scene, and her open smile directly engages the viewer , Steen's invitation into the revelry.
Unusually direct and unguarded expression for 17th-century portraiture; her gaze and grin carry the painting's emotional warmth.
Unusually direct and unguarded expression for 17th-century portraiture; her gaze and grin carry the painting's emotional warmth.
Stock Steen figure of innocence amid adult vice; his posture , looking inward at the dog , creates a quiet counterpoint to the noise above.
Stock Steen figure of innocence amid adult vice; his posture , looking inward at the dog , creates a quiet counterpoint to the noise above.
Music-making in Dutch genre painting signals amorous pursuit as much as entertainment; the instrument is a decoder object.
Music-making in Dutch genre painting signals amorous pursuit as much as entertainment; the instrument is a decoder object.
Dogs in Dutch genre scenes signify fidelity and domesticity , their presence here is ironic commentary on the scene's less virtuous pleasures.
Dogs in Dutch genre scenes signify fidelity and domesticity , their presence here is ironic commentary on the scene's less virtuous pleasures.
Transcript

She sees you before you see anything else. A smile this open was rare in 1670. A woman looking straight at you, rarer still. Jan Steen painted his own life into his scenes. His wife, his children, his friends. She is likely his wife, Margriet. This is their world. Around her, music and wine. Steen knew both well, he ran a tavern to survive. The little boy with the dog. Steen and Margriet had eight children. But look at her smile once more. It is not performance. It is welcome.