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Jan Steen Interprets Biblical Tales

Jan Steen, a Dutch Golden Age painter and contemporary of Rembrandt was apparently known for his sense of humor as well as his technique and mastery of color, on full display here in this painting from the Getty of Bathsheba after the Bath, from around 1665, or as I call it, Bathsheba getting a pedicure before her big night with King David.

Curators tell us that the scene comes from the biblical story of David summoning Bathsheba. As in yesterday's image from Rembrandt, an alluring woman is selected by the powerful ruler to do his sexual bidding. In this case, Steen opted to show Bathsheba as a willing temptress rather than an innocent victim as she was normally depicted, again aligning with Rembrandt's version of the Europa tale. She has come hither eyes and her dress is already falling off her. Is her maidservant trying one last time to tell her that this is a bad idea?

I'm not sure whether this was considered 'funny' in the Dutch Golden Age. Steen had married the boss's daughter Margriet (he was assistant to the painter Jan van Goyen) and they had eight children. It was during this time, his most productive also artistically, that he painted this work.