In The Feast of Saint Nicholas, how is the Jan Steen and his contemporaries discussed?
Jan Steen was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century. Dutch painting of the time, including the landscapes of Aelbert Cuyp and Jacob van Ruisdael, show a rustic intimacy that carried over into genre paintings of domestic scenes. The paintings of Jan Vermeer and Jan Steen detail the same sense of comfort in scenes from daily household life. As the Dutch economy thrived and the middle class of wealthy merchants grew, such domestic paintings rose in popularity. As members of the middle class became the new patrons of art, the traditional religious and historical subjects were less popular than the newer household scenes that offer direct glimpses into the lives of Dutch families of the time.
Jan Vermeer Jacob van Ruisdael Dutch genre Jan Steen Aelbert Cuyp