The Point-Counterpoint of Jan Steen

During the 17th century, Dutch musical genre delineation flourished, appeal to middle class patrons by char operationerisation everyday b assume and butter with charm and often a moral. Jan Steen was among the most successful genre painters, weaving witty scuttlebutt into his pictures of merriment. Rhetoricians at a Window, c. 1661-1666 (oil on canvas, 29 7/8 x 23 1/16 inches) table services as an exemplar, depicting a naturalistic circumstance combined with layers of meaning. Even the name may be read on many levels. scantily as a speechifier may refer to an liquid speaker, so, too, may it allude to a pompous or orotund person. Rhetorician also conjures up the notion of rhetoric, or the act of making a coaxing argument based on a point and differ structure. This painting cleverly provides some(prenominal) layers of point-counterpoint arguments revealed through visual analysis, particular(prenominal) reading of physiognomy of the figures, and assessing the compositio n as a whole, including how it engages the viewer.\nVisually, Steen presents a naturalistic scene arrange in a tavern or inn, believable in its details. Four prominent figures ar easily readable, not cartoonish or types, but portrayed with individualist features. Two more gloomy figures emerge from the background. The four figures up front are close in in a windowpane that fills the upper 2/3 of the painting, pushed forward in change space to the picture plane. The mess is identifiable as a public place where drunkenness is served by the prominent, diamond-shaped sign, nailed to the window put in just off center, wall hanging in the lower trey of the painting. The sign features crossed swords, parkland symbols for power, protection, justice, courage, and strength. Here, the crossed swords also serve as an apt image for the crossed arguments of the point and counterpoint of rhetoric. Across the top of the painting is a swag of grapevine, with a mass of grapes just ripe of center and another bunch on the far left, as the vine tumbles down the left ...