The Effects of Intemperance

Look for the pig eating roses in the corner. In the 1660s Dutch Republic everyone would have caught the joke at once: it was their version of casting pearls before swine, good things thrown away. The whole picture works like that. A mother has drunk herself to sleep in the middle of the day, and with her out cold the household comes apart around her. A child picks her pocket, food goes to the cat, wine is held up to the parrot, and in the doorway the father dallies with the maid. Prosperous, church-going Holland frowned on excess but also loved a laugh, and Steen built a career on serving both. The National Gallery in London bought the panel in 1977.