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Jan Steen (artist) Dutch, 1625/1626 - 1679 The Dancing Couple, 1663 oil on canvas Overall: 102.5 x 142.5 cm (40 3/8 x 56 1/8 in.) framed: 131.4 x 171.8 cm (51 3/4 x 67 5/8 in.) Widener Collection 1942.9.81 On View |
The mood and subject matter in Steen's paintings range enormously, from intimate moments when a family says grace before a meal to festive celebrations of Twelfth Night. But in all of his paintings we respond in a warm and compassionate way to the ordinary figures he represents.
The Dancing Couple is characteristic of many of his paintings for it shows people celebrating a festive occasion; perhaps, judging from the tents in the background, a village kermis. Two figures dance while musicians play, people eat, drink or smoke, couples flirt, and children play with their toys. Steen even portrayed himself in the scene; he is the grinning figure on the left touching the chin of the woman who drinks from a wine glass.
Despite the apparent frivolity of the scene, the painting has a rather sobering message. Steen was a moralist who often used emblematic references in his paintings to warn the viewer about the transitoriness of life. The cut flowers and broken eggshells on the floor, and the young boy blowing bubbles on the right have symbolic meanings attached to them. Earthly pleasures are short-lived and, as Steen seems to suggest, we should contemplate more lasting values, symbolized here by the church tower in the background.