Peasants carousing

Molenaer, Jan Miense (ca. 1610-1668)

Item type:

painting

Date of creation:

1662

Height:

112.7 cm  (44 3/8 in.)

Width:

130.2 cm  (51 1/4 in.)

Technique / Medium:

oil on canvas

School:

Dutch golden age

Description

Near the back center of this crowded scene there is a group of musicians seated above the assembly, playing a variety of instruments.
Commentary from museum website:
Many scenes featuring peasants are set in inns. This low-life tavern scene features a cavernous space with peasants making music, fighting, eating, drinking, dancing, and cavorting. A contemporary document indicates that the painting was based on a comic poem by Gerbrand Adriaensz[oon] Bredero and that the commission was offered as an exchange for an interest payment on the painter's house. Such images, painted for the edification of the well-to-do, were meant to denounce the riotous carryings-on of the lower classes.

Iconclass

41C52
carousal, drinking-bout, orgy
48C753
more than one musician with instrument

Instruments [MIMO Code] (notes)

Shawm [4258]
Violin [3573]
Bagpipe [3746]

RIdIM images

Image URLs

image link 1

RIdIM record id

5899