1293. MUSICAL PASTIME.
Jan Miense Molenaer (Dutch: died 1668).
This painter, the best of three artists of the same name, "excelled in representing peasant interiors and scenes of rustic life in a quiet style and in skilfully graduated tints. His colouring is warm and clear; his drawing spirited, and his touch full of life. Besides this, he possessed a certain refinement, and his humour never overstepped the bounds of decency. While his works retain characteristics peculiar to him, they manifest also something of the styles of Steen, Brauwer, and Ostade" (Havard: The Dutch School, p. 159). He was a native of Haarlem, and afterwards settled in Amsterdam. His earlier works (such as the present picture) suggest the tutelage of Frans Hals; the later works show the influence of Rembrandt.
This picture (which is signed on the side of the foot-warmer) is a capital example of the artist. "The fair faces of the singers are very spontaneously expressive of their gaiety, and have something of the animation of Jan Steen without his vulgar types and occasional grimace."