The Point-Counterpoint of Jan Steen

During the seventeenth century, Dutch genre depiction flourished, appealing to middle fall apart patrons by depicting occasional life with charm and frequently a moral. Jan Steen was among the most in(predicate) genre painters, weaving witty commentary into his reads of merriment. Rhetoricians at a Window, c. 1661-1666 (oil on canvas, 29 7/8 x 23 1/16 inches) serves as an exemplar, depicting a realistic cyclorama combined with layers of meaning. make up the title may be read on many some other(prenominal) levels. Just as a rhetorician may adjoin to an eloquent speaker, so, too, may it rival to a pompous or bombastic person. Rhetorician excessively conjures up the notion of rhetoric, or the act of making a persuasive argument found on a agitate and counter halt structure. This painting cleverly provides several layers of point-counterpoint arguments revealed through opthalmic analysis, c beful reading of mark of the figures, and assessing the composition as a whole, including how it engages the viewer.\nVisually, Steen presents a naturalistic scene set in a tavern or inn, credible in its details. Four heavy(a) figures are easily readable, not cartoonish or types, but portrayed with individualistic features. Two more than shadowy figures emerge from the background. The iv figures up front are framed in a windowpane that fills the upper 2/3 of the painting, pushed forward in shallow space to the picture plane. The location is identifiable as a public move where drink is served by the prominent, diamond-shaped sign, nailed to the window frame just dark center, hanging in the trim third of the painting. The sign features go through swords, common symbols for power, protection, justice, courage, and strength. Here, the crossed swords besides serve as an cagy emblem for the crossed arguments of the point and counterpoint of rhetoric. Across the choke of the painting is a simoleons of grapevine, with a bunch of grapes just right of cente r and another bunch on the outlying(prenominal) left wing, as the vine tumbles down the left ...