Jan Steen: As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young (1668)

Jan Steen (ca. 1626-1679) often depicted merry, but messy groups of people, celebrating in a home situation. A stubborn misconception persists that these allow us to get acquainted with ordinary people of the seventeenth century, and that they show us how their houses, clothes and furniture looked. Some even thought that they got an insight into Steen’s own house (who was a brewer and a landlord beside his painting career). The lively paintings became so popular that they even resulted in a (still widely used) Dutch expression: ‘een huishouden van Jan Steen’ (a Jan Steen household, meaning one that is badly organized).
Jan Steen’s contemporaries, however, clearly understood that these ‘dissolute households’ were not meant invitingly, but rather as depictions of a wrong, upside down world, in which order and propriety are severely distorted. Children smoke and drink, while the adults are more concerned with making fun than looking after them. The moral Steen wants to convey to us can be found amidst this merry family. The paper on the mantelpiece says: 'Soo d'Oude Songen, Soo Pypen de Jonge' (As the Old Sing, So Pipe the Young), meaning the adults’ behavior sets a bad example for their children.
That the painting contained an important message for attentive citizens does not necessarily mean that Steen found no pleasure in painting the chaotic scene. The skills and great attention for details he applied to depict the domestic vices are still impressive. As a form of irony, he often portrayed himself and his family and friends in the role of merry sinners. In this painting we recognize his own children, while the bagpipe player near the window is probably Jan’s alter ego.