The Dissolute Household by Jan Steen

Jan Steen’s Dissolute Household (1663-1664) earns its place in the Dutch comedic painting traditions of the seventeenth century, portraying a family committing various offenses against traditional moral codes. Steen presents the family’s excessively immoral behavior in a stage-like setting, turning those offenses into comedic entertainment. By pitting the excess of a prospering society against the laws set by the religious establishment, The Dissolute Household offers audiences a choice: to revel in the subjects’ hedonism, or to laugh at them while maintaining the moral high ground.

Running Time: 6:59

By Samantha Ahearn, Bethany Greenho, and McKenna Meskan