Drama with a Touch of Humour; Jan Steen at the Mauritshuis

Jan Steen (1626-1679) was one of the most productive and popular painters of the ‘Golden Age’ in the Netherlands. He worked for both the free market and wealthy collectors and is best known for his depictions of chaotic households, inn scenes, brothels, quack doctors and feast days including that of St Nicholas. What is less well known is that he also did serious history paintings showing stories from the Bible and classical antiquity. Most of them date from the end of his life, after he had moved to Haarlem. The Mauritshuis in The Hague has now devoted an exhibition to this relatively unfamiliar part of his oeuvre.