This is what Jan Steen’s real household looked like: ‘He always wanted to make his audience laugh’

‘A household of Jan Steen’ is a popular expression in the Dutch language. Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden is celebrating his 400th birthday this year with a festive exhibition of the artist who gave birth to this saying, which portrays the 17th-century painter not only as a cheerful father of at least eight children, whose household was a mess because he liked a drink, but above all as a versatile artist who liked to make his audience laugh.

ttn-2