Dutch Baroque Era Painter, ca.1625-1679 Daily life was Jan Steen's main pictorial theme. Many of the genre scenes he portrayed are lively to the point of chaos and lustfulness, even so much that a Jan Steen household, meaning a messy scene, became a Dutch proverb (een huishouden van Jan Steen). Subtle hints in his paintings seem to suggest that Steen meant to warn the viewer rather than invite him to copy this behaviour. Many of Steen's paintings bear references to old Dutch proverbs or literature. He often used members of his family as models. Jan Steen painted also quite a few self-portraits, in which he showed no tendency of vanity. Steen did not shy from other themes: he painted historical, mythological and religious scenes, portraits, still lifes and natural scenes. His portraits of children are famous. He is also well known for his mastery of light and attention to detail, most notably in textiles. Steen was prolific, producing about 800 paintings, of which roughly 350 survive. Steen's work was valued much by contemporaries and as a result he was reasonably well paid for his work. He did not have any students, but his work proved a source of inspiration for many painters.  Related Paintings of Jan Steen :. | The Dissolute Household | Merry company on a terrace | The Life of Man | The Doctor's Visit | The Drinker |
Related Artists:
FRANCKEN, Ambrosius
Flemish painter (b. ca. 1544, Antwerpen, d. 1618, Antwerpen).
MASTER of the Polling Panels
German Northern Renaissance Painter, active 1434-1450
Girolamo Mocetto
Italian Painter, ca.1470-1531,Italian engraver, painter and designer of stained glass. He was born into a family of glass painters, and, although there is no documentary evidence that he worked outside Venice, his early paintings and engravings show the influence of Domenico Morone and of Mantegna and his circle, which would suggest that Mocetto's training may not have been exclusively Venetian. His artistic evolution is most clearly seen in a comparison of early works still close to Morone, such as a series of three engravings of the Battle between Israel and the Amalekites (see Hind, nos 719-20) or the painting of the Battle (Pavia, Pin. Malaspina), to works of a few years later, such as the two small paintings of the Massacre of the Innocents (London, N.G.; see fig.) and the engravings of Pagan Sacrifices (H 726-7), the Metamorphosis of Amymone (H 728) and the Calumny of Apelles (H. 727), all datable to c. 1500. In the later works, whole passages or motifs are copied or adapted from drawings and engravings by Mantegna. Mocetto may have had direct contact with the court of Mantua (the Metamorphosis of Amymone is an allegory of the city of Mantua); two engravings dating from the first years of the 16th century, St John the Baptist (H 724) and Judith with the Head of Holofernes (H 725),