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JAN STEEN (LEIDEN 1626-LEIDEN 1679)
Interior of a Tavern, with Cardplayers and a Violin Player
RCIN 405825
This scene catalogues the customary vices – idleness, drunkenness and lechery – with Steen’s customary and infectious enthusiasm; he himself appears laughing near the f ire. Steen’s comedy is supported by extraordinary realism and subtle humanity, both qualities seen in the head of the servant girl at the centre of the composition.
Acquired by George IV in 1818
Cat. 24
