The Feast of Saint Nicholas

Jan Steen's Feast of Saint Nicholas from around 1665-68, in the Rijksmuseum, depicts the chaos following Saint Nicholas Eve, when Dutch children discover whether they have received gifts or a birch rod in their shoes. The painting is a masterful ensemble of individual reactions—one child clutches her doll protectively while her brother weeps over his birch rod—that together create a comic panorama of family life. Steen's detailed knowledge of Dutch domestic customs makes his paintings invaluable documents of seventeenth-century social life.

The composition radiates outward from the central figure of the favored child, with each surrounding figure contributing a distinct emotional note to the ensemble. Steen's technique combines precise characterization of individual expressions with atmospheric handling of the domestic interior.