Jan Steen’s Merry Company on a Terrace

The recurring theme of a humorous portrayal of mess and disorder in Jan Steen’s Merry Company on a Terrace, ca. 1670, shows different elements of foolishness in varying areas of the painting. Jan Steen’s comical exaggerations of foolishness in the painting includes: the foolishness of substance abuse, the foolishness of child rearing and the foolishness of love. Unlike the other Dutch paintings, this artwork depicts a less serious tone and has a jollier atmosphere in the context of the painting's setting. A swift glance will direct the viewer’s eyes towards the eyes of the blonde lady that is wearing a transparent bluish blouse that is holding an emptied wine glass in the middle of the complete disorder of her background while insinuating the viewer’s eyes with some sexual innuendos. The people at the chaotic background put off a merry vibe while enjoying a close knit feast with musicians and drunkards. One of the drunkards, located at the far left of the painting, is gazing towards the viewers with a white sideways hat and a reddish face. His visual appearance is depicted by Jan Steen as if he is the drunkest among the other drunkards in the painting. At a closer look, there are also children and animals in the painting. In front of the aforementioned drunkard is a small toddler with a toy horse tied to a dog and another child that is being carried by an old woman is about to grab a glass of wine that is being given by an old man to the old woman. Directly above the old man is an empty bird cage where the bird that is supposed to be confined is seen outside the cage. Although areas of the masterpiece are depicted with chaos, Jan Steen managed to harmonize disorder in the painting. The visual aesthetic of the artwork shows symbols for humorous disorder that represent different elements of foolishness in substance abuse, child rearing and love.[Liedtke, Walter. Dutch Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2 Vols. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2007), 844.] [Walter, Dutch Paintings, 844.] [Walter, Dutch Paintings, 844.] Jan Steen is a less famous artist during the Dutch golden age of painting compared to the likes of other famous Dutch artist such as Rembrandt, Hals and Vermeer. Steen was generally known by the public about his merry genre paintings where he visually illustrates the everyday life of a person. One notable element and style of Jan Steen's work is the recurring insertions of his self-portrait blending within the scenes of his paintings. According to the National Gallery of Art, this style of self-insertion of artist in their artworks had already been practiced since the time of the Italian Renaissance. Added by the National Gallery of Art, this style of blending in self-portraits can be observed in the works of multiple Renaissance masters such as Michelangelo and Raphael, especially in their works with historical or Biblical settings. In Jan Steen’s case, he fused his self- portrait painting and genre painting imbued with his merry styles. The painting Merry Company on a Terrace, ca. 1670, is one of the artworks where Jan Steen inserted his self-portrait within the narrative context of a chaotic household. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Jan Steen is as the drunken person seen with the sideways white hat located at the far left part of the painting. The Metropolitan Museum of Art added that Jan Steen added the image of his wife, which is located at the middle of the artwork wearing the bluish blouse that is directly looking at the viewers. Although Jan Steen illustrates himself as a drunkard in a messy and disordered environment, there are no records that support his drunken demeanor and messy life choices; on the contrary, Steen was always accounted for as a respectable member of the Leiden guild and a good resident of their town.[Brown, Christopher. Dutch Painting. (Oxford: Phaidon Press Limited, 1976), 12.] [Brown, Dutch Painting,12.] [National Gallery of Art. Painting in the Dutch Golden Age: A Profile of the Seventeenth Century. (Washington: Board of Trustees, National Gallery of Art, 2007), 60.] [National Gallery of Art. Painting in the Dutch Golden Age: A Profile of the Seventeenth Century, 111.] [National Gallery of Art. Painting in the Dutch Golden Age: A Profile of the Seventeenth Century, 111.] [National Gallery of Art. Painting in the Dutch Golden Age: A Profile of the Seventeenth Century, 111.] [“Merry Company on a Terrace, ca. 1670.” The Metropolitan Museum of Art, accessed April 14, 2019, /art/collection/search/437749.] [“Merry Company on a Terrace, ca. 1670.”] [“Merry Company on a Terrace, ca. 1670.”] [Liedtke, Walter. Frans Hals: Style and Substance. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2011),9.] The Merry Company on a Terrace, ca. 1970, is full of Jan Steen’s visual storytelling of foolishness. Jan Steen spread different symbols in his work; but, the most allusive symbol for foolishness is the owl outside the cage that is located at the upper part of the painting. Seeing an owl in a painting usually symbolizes the wisdom and application of knowledge; however, in this painting, the overseeing owl represents the foolishness of the people. The point of the overseeing owl outside the cage represents that the foolishness of mankind knows no boundaries. Limits are often imposed by society and tradition; however, foolishness can not be caged and is limitless. The lower area of the artwork that the owl oversees had a crowded scene of people that ranges from different ages while enjoying the camaraderie of their household, drinking and relaxing; but, ignoring the bound of society’s restrictions. The symbol of the owl generalized the main theme of the painting about foolishness; but, the theme of foolishness expands even more so and can be further specified to substance abuse, love and child rearing.[National Gallery of Art. Painting in the Dutch Golden Age: A Profile of the Seventeenth Century, 60.] [Walter, Dutch Paintings, 846] [Walter, Dutch Paintings, 846] [National Gallery of Art. Painting in the Dutch Golden Age: A Profile of the Seventeenth Century, 61.] [National Gallery of Art. Painting in the Dutch Golden Age: A Profile of the Seventeenth Century, 61.] [National Gallery of Art. Painting in the Dutch Golden Age: A Profile of the Seventeenth Century, 61.] The element of foolishness pertaining to substance abuse is seen all over the different areas of the painting. Jan Steen vividly represent substance abuse, in this case alcoholism, not just in the painting The Merry Company on a Terrace, ca. 1670, but also, in another artwork called The Dissolute Household, ca. 1663-64. These paintings show men and women drinking an enjoyable glass of wine while exhibiting a carefree and careless atmosphere about their surroundings. Jan Steen even painted himself and his wife drinking wine to show the widely accepted norms of substance abuse during that era.[Stolberg, Victor B. "Historical Images and Reviews of Substance Use and Substance Abuse in the Teaching of Addiction Studies." Journal of Teaching in the Addictions 8 (2009): 71. Acessed April 14, 2019, doi: 10.1080/15332700903396648] [Stolberg. "Historical Images and Reviews of Substance Use and Substance Abuse in the Teaching of Addiction Studies." 71.] [Stolberg. "Historical Images and Reviews of Substance Use and Substance Abuse in the Teaching of Addiction Studies." 71.] The depiction of Jan Steen provide an imp...