Ascagnes and Lucelle (The Music Lesson)
1667
Jan Steen, the Dutch master of lively and often chaotic scenes, here depicts a 'music lesson' that is clearly about much more than music. The woman in the lustrous white dress strums a lute—a traditional symbol of courtship—while the young man sits boldly on the bed, leaning in with intense focus. If you look closely at the music book on the stool, you'll see Steen signed and dated it '1667' right there on the page. A clever touch is the mirror on the right, which reveals a hidden observer peeking into the room, suggesting that in Steen's world, private moments are never truly private.
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