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A Game of Skittles
A Game of Skittles
A Game of Skittles

A Game of Skittles

Maker (Dutch, 1626-1679)
Datecirca 1650
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions25 1/2 x 32 3/4 in. (64.8 x 83.2 cm)
Framed: 35 3/8 × 42 in. (89.9 × 106.7 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Object number1973.51
Object TypePaintings
On View
Not on view
A noted Dutch painter of village entertainments and other everyday subjects, Jan Steen endowed A Game of Skittles with a strong sense of place. On the distant horizon is a view of The Hague, seen from the south, which was Steen’s home until 1654. The placid integration of the figures into their surroundings, and their relaxed, casual postures, suggest a community rooted in ordinary rituals like playing skittles (a game similar to bowling). The close attention to local detail may also betray the influence of master landscapist Jan van Goyen (1596–1656), whose daughter Steen married in 1649—thus establishing a deeper sense of belonging both to a particular family and to a larger Dutch painting tradition.