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The happy family...

by Tim Bayly on December 27, 2012 - 1:32pm

Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum allows the free download of Dutch Masters, so I thought we'd end the year with one or two. This is Jan Steen's The Happy Family.

Tags: 
Children are a blessing

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Comments

Submitted by Sandy Pryor on December 27, 2012 - 2:05pm

I love Dutch artists! Thank you for sharing this link!!

Submitted by Matthew Carroll on December 27, 2012 - 2:42pm

Okay, this is my new wallpaper on my home PC.

Submitted by David Baker on December 27, 2012 - 11:40pm

This looks like my house: The older kids are smoking their pipes and the dog did the pre-wash.

Submitted by Fr. Bill on December 28, 2012 - 10:35am

Thanks for the link!  I've set up an account, and now look forward to creating my own 3840x1080 wallpapers for my dual-monitor setup. Their hi-res reproductions of their collection will give me lots of subject matter to work with.

Submitted by John Korpan on December 29, 2012 - 4:32pm

Maarten Levendig (from the Rijks Museum) thinks Steen is a moralist, whose painting criticizes rather than celebrates. 

"The paper on the mantelpiece says: 'Soo d'Oude Songen, Soo Pypen de Jonge' (As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young), meaning the adults’ behavior sets a bad example for their children." -- Maarten Levendig, Rijks Museum

http://preview.tinyurl.com/bvteaw4

But I see Steen also as a humorist. He's laughing at the tipsy adults who tolerate slacker children. The children "pipe" in three ways: with music, tobacco, and wine. (Notice the toddler nursed from the wine spout/pipe.)

If you search online for the proverb above, you can see other Dutch paintings associated with it.

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