Gamblers Quarreling
ca. 1665
Jan Steen captures the absolute chaos of a 17th-century Dutch tavern in this riotous scene, where a card game has clearly gone off the rails. A man tumbles backward in his chair while clutching a jug, a woman tries to break up the scuffle, and a fiddler plays on obliviously in the background amidst the flying cards and spilled coins. Steen was famous for these lively, moralizing 'merry company' paintings during the Dutch Golden Age—in fact, the Dutch phrase 'a Jan Steen household' still means a messy, chaotic home today!
- Technique
- Oil painting
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