The Drunken Couple

Jan Havicksz Steen (c. 1625–1679), oil on panel, c. 1655–1665

A man and woman are so drunk that they are unaware they are being robbed. Their foolishness is underscored by the print on the partition. It depicts an owl, considered a stupid creature in the 17th century. After all, it could not see by day, not even with a candle or eyeglasses. The drunken couple is thus just as blind as the owl, a message that survives in the English idiom ‘blind as a bat’.

Artwork typepainting
Object numberSK-C-232
Dimensionsheight 52.5 cm x width 64 cm
Physical characteristicsolieverf op paneel

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Identification

Title(s)
- The Drunken Couple
- The drunken couple
Object type
Object number
SK-C-232
Inscriptions / marks
signature: ‘JSteen’
Description
A man and woman are so drunk that they are unaware they are being robbed. Their foolishness is underscored by the print on the partition. It depicts an owl, considered a stupid creature in the 17th century. After all, it could not see by day, not even with a candle or eyeglasses. The drunken couple is thus just as blind as the owl, a message that survives in the English idiom ‘blind as a bat’.
Catalogue reference
C. van der Bas, 'The Muilman Collection: the progressive taste of an eighteenth-century banking family', Simiolus 32 (2006) nr. 2/3, p. 169-170 (noot 50).

Creation

Creation
painter: Jan Havicksz. Steen
Dating
c. 1655 - c. 1665
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Material and technique

Physcial description
olieverf op paneel
Material
Dimensions
height 52.5 cm x width 64 cm

This work is about

Subject

Exhibitions

Acquisition and rights

Credit line
On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest)
Ownership
Copyright
Public domain

Documentation

- C. van der Bas, 'The Muilman Collection: the progressive taste of an eighteenth-century banking family', Simiolus 32 (2006) nr. 2/3, p. 169-170 (noot 50).
- '...', Tegel 22 (1994), p. 11.
- Peter C. Sutton, 'The life and art of Jan Steen', Bulletin Philadelphia Museum of Art 78 (1982/83), p. 37, afb. 35.
- L. de Vries, Jan Steen : de schilderende uilenspiegel, Weert 1976, p. 13, afb. 55.
- Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie 23 (1982) nr. 1-4, p. 72, afb. 9.
- Simon Schama, Overvloed en onbehagen : de Nederlandse cultuur in de gouden eeuw, Amsterdam1988, p. 218 met afb.
- Van Westrheenen 1856, 20.
- Documentatiemap Schilderijen.
- Ardis Grosjean, 'Towards an interpretation of Pieter Aertsen's profane iconography', Konsthistorisch Tijdschrift 43 (1974), p. 140 noot 101.
- E. Meijer, 'Stiekeme boodschapjes in het Rijksmuseum', Kunstbeeld (1976) nov., p. 37.
- Rijksmuseum Kunstkrant 5 (1979) nr. 6 jan.
- H. van Gangelen, 'Een uilebeker onder het scherts-drinkerei van loodglazuur : aardewerk omstreeks 1600', Antiek 14 (1980) febr., p. 454, afb. 10.
- P. Hecht, 'Candlelight and dirty fingers, or royal virtue in disquise', Simiolus 2 (1980), p. 29, detail afb. 8.