Peasants Merrymaking Outside an Inn, Jan Steen from the old master collection

Peasants Merrymaking Outside an Inn, Jan Steen (1676)

Also known as Fair at Warmond.

This large painting from the last years of Jan Steen’s remarkable career is one of the master’s most expansive depictions of a country fair. The merrymaking takes place beneath tall trees in front of an inn, to the right of which, at some remove, are market stalls and a castle gate. The flag hanging from the tower window of a distant church was a signal that a fair was being celebrated that very day. In the midst of the festivities are two intertwined couples dancing to the tunes of a young violinist and a hurdy-gurdy player who has climbed on top of a table. Other figures sit and relax smoking or drinking, while some revelers greet each other with smiles and the doffing of hats. Near the inn a man and a woman toast each other with unrestrained exuberance. Leaning out of a window from the building’s second floor is a man helping his vomiting female companion, an indication that the gaiety will continue, perhaps to dubious ends.

A crown of flowers, attached to a rope strung between two trees, hangs above the dancers. Such crowns were hung up for festive occasions, including weddings and the celebration of the birthday of the Prince of Orange. The flag attached to the inn is a frequent feature in depictions of sixteenth-century fairs honoring saints’ days by such artists as Pieter Bruegel the Elder (ca. 1525–69) and David Vinckboons (1576–ca. 1632). Such Catholic festivities, however, were not officially celebrated in protestant Holland and, as Steen provides no explicit clues as to the nature of the celebration, it is probable that he depicted a generic event and not a specific feast day.