Portrait of a Family on a Terrace

Family portraits set on terraces—combining the formal conventions of portraiture with the casual outdoor setting of the conversation piece—were a fashionable format in the seventeenth century, positioned between the stiff interior group portrait and the freer composition of genre painting. Jan Steen's version of around 1660 brings his characteristic warmth to the format, animating the family group with the relaxed energy of his genre subjects while maintaining the decorum expected of a commissioned portrait. The terrace setting suggests wealth and a garden property.

The family is arranged against the warm stone of a terrace balustrade, with an open landscape view extending behind them. Individual portraits within the group are individually characterized—Steen does not homogenize the faces for formal effect. Natural outdoor light is handled with more evenness than in his candlelit interiors.