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Peasants Carousing
Jan Miense Molenaer (Dutch, 1609 or 1610–1668)
1662
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
112.7 x 130.2 cm (44 3/8 x 51 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Julia Bradford Huntington James Fund
Accession Number07.500
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
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. 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.
InscriptionsLower left on bench: Jan . Molenaer 1662
Provenance1907, Edward Balfour, Esq. (b. 1849 - d. 1927), Balbirnie, Fife, Scotland; May 31, 1907, Balfour sale, Christie, Manson and Woods, London, lot 142, to Gooden and Fox, London; 1907, sold by Gooden and Fox to the MFA for $16,650 [see note 1]. (Accession Date: August 8, 1907)
NOTES:
[1] MFA accession numbers 07.499 - 07.502 were acquired together for $16,650.
NOTES:
[1] MFA accession numbers 07.499 - 07.502 were acquired together for $16,650.