Lot Essay
The original, on canvas, signed, 131 x 172 cm, is in the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum, Brunswick since 1815 (K.Braun, Alle tot nu toe bekende schilderijen van Jan Steen, 1980, p.126, no281).
The subject is taken from the Book of Tobit 7:11-16. As pointed out by Perry Chapman in Jan Steen: Schilder en Verteller, exhibition catalogue Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 1996, p.205, the subject was not recognised as such until 1926. Before it was regarded as a depiction of a marriage contract, as Steen disguised the biblical scene in a contemporary setting.
Arnold van der Laar was born in Bois-le-Duc and studied at the local Art Academy with Huib Luns. Well-known as a copyist, he is recorded to have copied 24 paintings in the Rijksmuseum in the period 1913-1930. We are grateful to Michel van de Laar, grandson of the artist, for having provided us with this information.
See colour illustration
The subject is taken from the Book of Tobit 7:11-16. As pointed out by Perry Chapman in Jan Steen: Schilder en Verteller, exhibition catalogue Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 1996, p.205, the subject was not recognised as such until 1926. Before it was regarded as a depiction of a marriage contract, as Steen disguised the biblical scene in a contemporary setting.
Arnold van der Laar was born in Bois-le-Duc and studied at the local Art Academy with Huib Luns. Well-known as a copyist, he is recorded to have copied 24 paintings in the Rijksmuseum in the period 1913-1930. We are grateful to Michel van de Laar, grandson of the artist, for having provided us with this information.
See colour illustration