Jan Steen was born in 1626 at Leiden, the eldest of eight children, into a devoutly Catholic, upper-middle class family of brewers with long ties to the society of Leiden. In November of 1646 Steen registered at Leiden University for schooling. Many believe that Steen’s enrollment was not because he strived for the knowledge and skills learned at a university, but the privileges of being exempt from duties, like that of civic guard. It is not known how long Steen stayed at the university, but that he was there long enough to at least acquire some familiarity with Latin and the classical authors.

 

Steen joined Leiden’s Guild of St. Luke in 1648, but like much of Steen’s life, it is not known by contemporary sources who was his teacher. The main insight on the matter comes from a somewhat reliable writer, Jan Weyerman, who wrote on the lives of Dutch painters published in the mid to late eighteenth century. Weyerman states that Nicolaus Knupfer of Utrecht, Adriaen van Ostade, and also Jan van Goyen were all teachers of the pupil at one time. Throughout Steen’s work it is easy to see Knupfer’s influence through the subject and layout choices. Ostade’s influence, on the other hand, is only visible in his earlier pieces. Van Goyen is thought to be one of Steen’s teachers for Steen marries his daughter, Margriet van Goyen, on October 3, 1649 at The Hague, not because of any similarities in work.

 

Steen seemed to struggle with staying in one place for long, and so he moved sporadically throughout his life. For example, he moves to Delft in the autumn of 1654, where with his father’s assistance he leased a brewery until about 1657 titled The Snake. He later moves to Warmond, a town near Leiden. Then, by 1660, Steen and his family, which consisted of five children at the time, moved to Haarlem. While in Haarlem, Steen painted many of the greatest works of his career, which is believed to be because of Frans Hals influence, one of Haarlem’s greatest artist.

 

Much of 1669 and early 1670 had to have been a hard time for the painter. His wife, Margiet, died in the spring of 1669 and his mother later that September. Steen’s father then died in March of 1670, driving Steen back home to Leiden, where he stayed for the remainder of his life. Jan Steen later died on February 3, 1679, at the early age of 53.