Jan STEEN
Dutch 1626-1679
The wedding party
c.1667-68
oil on wood panel
45.5 x 37.3 cm
Presented through The Art Foundation of Victoria by Mr. James Fairfax, Honorary Life Benefactor 1992
E1-1992

One of Steen's moralising paintings, this time the subject is an unequal marriage of convenience. The fate of the young woman seated in the foreground is reflected in the room in the background.
There, a bride is unhappily being married to a toothless squinting old man.
The rather downcast bride is clearly reflecting on the folly of her marriage, succumbing to societal pressures, much as the seated woman is pressured by the eager procuress in the foreground.