A Twelfth Night Feast: 'The King drinks'

This 1661 painting of A Twelfth Night Feast, subtitled "The King Drinks," depicts the traditional Epiphany celebration where a bean hidden in a cake determined the evening's "king." Steen painted this festive subject multiple times, relishing the opportunity to depict communal revelry. Steen's boisterous scenes employ a rich warm palette and broad comic invention placing him in the tradition of Bruegel and Adriaen van Ostade, while his figure painting shows the influence of his teacher Jan va...

The crowded festive scene demonstrates Steen's masterful handling of animated group compositions, with the toast-raising "king" as focal point amid a chaos of celebration and disorder.