In the exhibition Jan Steen’s Histories, the Mauritshuis will exhibit a selection of Jan Steen’s finest history paintings. This seventeenth-century Dutch artist is best known as a painter of chaotic and disorderly scenes of everyday life, which gave rise to the popular Dutch proverb ‘a Jan Steen household’. But he also painted very different subjects: stories from the Bible, classical mythology and antiquity. From 15 February until 13 May 2018, the Mauritshuis will show – by means of twenty-one paintings – that Steen was a versatile and ambitious artist with a keen eye for amusing stories and anecdotes.
Neglected oeuvre
The exhibition Jan Steen’s Histories looks at the little-known part of Jan Steen’s oeuvre: the history paintings. Until the mid-eighteenth century, these paintings were among Steen’s most expensive works. But as time went on, their value diminished, presumably because their humorous character became increasingly unfashionable. It would be no exaggeration to say that the history paintings form a misunderstood part of Steen’s oeuvre to this day.
Steen depicted a broad range of subjects taken from the Bible, apocryphal writings and classical mythology, which he depicted in a highly original way. Stories taken from these sources were known as ‘histories’ in Steen’s day. Some seventy-five history paintings by Steen survive today, representing around a sixth of his oeuvre.
They are tales full of torment, treachery and temptation, all expressed by Jan Steen in his own playful way. In his history paintings – just as in his genre pieces – Steen pays particular attention to the interaction between the figures and pokes fun through the behaviour of his main characters.
