Rhetoricians at a Window

Gallery 364, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Main Building

Rhetoricians at a Window

1658-1665

Jan Steen (Dutch (active Leiden, Haarlem, and The Hague), 1626–1679)

These mirthful men are members of a chamber of rhetoric, a type of dramatic and literary society popular throughout the Dutch Republic. These groups performed plays, tableau vivants, and poetry readings. At left, the group’s orator reads a paper titled Lof Liet (Song of Praise), while the poet who composed the verse looks on over his shoulder. Opposite, a critic listens pensively while a jester provokes laughter from onlookers. Many artists were members of such societies. While it is not known if Steen himself belonged, he frequently embraced elements of stage performance, theatricality, and poetry in his art.

Gallery 364, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Object Details

Title:

Rhetoricians at a Window

Date:

1658-1665

Artist:

Jan Steen (Dutch (active Leiden, Haarlem, and The Hague), 1626–1679)

Medium:

Oil on canvas

Dimensions:

29 7/8 × 23 1/16 inches (75.9 × 58.6 cm)

Classification:

Paintings

Credit Line:

John G. Johnson Collection, 1917

Accession Number:

Cat. 512

Geography:

Made in Netherlands, Europe

Provenance

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Gallery 364, European Art 1500-1850, third floor

Main Building

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