Jan Steen - A Young Woman Playing a Harpsichord to a Young Man [c.1659]

Jan Steen - A Young Woman Playing a Harpsichord to a Young Man [c.1659], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

In contrast to Steen's characteristic scenes of dissolute households and festive abandon, this painting shows an interior within a stone arch in the manner of Dou and the Leiden fijnschilders (Fine Painters). A girl playing the virginals, or as here, a harpsichord, was one of the most popular subjects with Dutch 17th-century painters, and the instrument is inscribed with popular quotations from the Bible. The inscription reads: ACTA VIRUM / PROBANT (actions prove the man), which may be a witty and ironic comment on this scene of rather passive flirtation. On the inner side of the instrument one can read: 'Soli Deo Gloria' (Glory to God alone). 

[Oil on oak, 42.3 x 33 cm]