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The Family Concert

Painting of several light-skinned people gathered around a table in front of a gilded mirror, playing instruments. At left, seated next to a woman in an off-the-shoulder gown, a man in a plumed hat plays a lute. At center right, another man plays a cello, while a dog and cat eat from a dish underfoot.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • Painting of several light-skinned people gathered around a table in front of a gilded mirror, playing instruments. At left, seated next to a woman in an off-the-shoulder gown, a man in a plumed hat plays a lute. At center right, another man plays a cello, while a dog and cat eat from a dish underfoot.

Date:

1666

Artist:

Jan Steen
Dutch, 1626–1679

About this artwork

This well-appointed interior sets the scene for the courtship ritual of music-making, through which men and women became acquainted by singing and playing instruments together. The boy in the foreground, mimicking the adults, strums a cello with a pipe and breaks a string, a subtle allusion to the perils of unbridled passion. Jan Steen, one of the Dutch Republic’s most prolific comic painters, crafted his scenes upon the contemporary notion that comedy mirrors everyday life.

Status

On View, Gallery 212

Department

Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist

Jan Steen

Title

The Family Concert

Place

Holland (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

1666

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

86.6 × 101 cm (34 1/8 × 39 3/4 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Timothy B. Blackstone

Reference Number

1891.65

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

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https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/561/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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