2558. GRACE BEFORE MEAT.
Jan Steen (Dutch: 1626-1679). See 856.
Steen, though he loved scenes of rollicking conviviality and was fond of sly humour, by no means confined himself to such moods. His brush traced every episode of family life, and this little piece is as pretty as one of the "Graces for Children" in Herrick's Noble Numbers:—
What God gives, and what we take,
'Tis a gift for Christ his sake;
Be the meal of Beans and Pease,
God be thanked for those and these.
This picture was formerly in the Leuchtenberg Collection at St. Petersburg.
2559. THE OYSTER FEAST.
2560. THE SKITTLE PLAYERS.
Jan Steen (Dutch: 1626-1679). See 856.