The Feast of Saint Nicholas

Jan Steen’s The Feast of Saint Nicholas is a riotous panorama of a Dutch family’s celebration on December 5th. The youngest child howls over a switch found in his shoe while his siblings clutch their presents; an older boy grins as he holds a gingerbread figure; a grandmother gestures in mid-story. Steen’s comedy is warm rather than cruel, and beneath the chaos lies his admiration for domestic life — so complete that ‘a Jan Steen household’ became a Dutch proverb for a happy mess.