The wine is a Mocker by Jan havicksz Steen by Frank Z

About "The wine is a Mocker by Jan havicksz Steen"

by Frank Z

About the artwork

In front of a vine-covered building, probably an inn, a drunken woman is hoisted into a wheelbarrow by a boy and a man, while gossipy neighbors look on mockingly. The red-faced woman, even though she looks completely disheveled, is one of Steen's most beautifully painted figures. Her hair has slipped out of her crooked headscarf; the shirt and chic fur-trimmed jacket have come loose, revealing her chest. Her gorgeous skirt of pink and blue shimmering satin is suspended so far as to reveal the edge of her petticoat, and a bit of bare leg above each stocking.

Behind her, a little boy holds up a metal market pail and a glass flask, as if to signify that through drinking she has neglected her duty to feed her children. There is also a cheerful looking girl and a boy on a hobby horse.

Above this scene, on the edge of the shed above the door, the moral of the story is written: The Wine is a Spoter Proverbyn 20.1. The biblical proverb in full:

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is tumultuous: whosoever is led astray therein shall not be wise.
To underline the moral, the villagers, right down to the excited barking dog, are on hand to mock and admonish the drunken woman. At the bottom door, a sharp-faced man and a woman are talking and gesticulating like people in the know. In the open window we see two laughing men; one holds an earthen bowl, perhaps with water in it to refresh the intoxicated. In the left background, a smiling woman draws water under a stone arch.