120 JAN STEEN SECT. Some of the guests are jesting with her. In front of the table an elderly man invites a woman to dance. Near them are two musicians. In the left foreground a youthful pair of lovers, with their backs to the spectator, are looking on. A maid-servant ascends a staircase at the back. "A coarse and slight performance" (Sm.). Signed in full in the left-hand bottom corner, and dated 1672 ; panel, 15! inches by 20 inches. Described by Ch. Blanc. Sale. Is. Hoogenbergh, Amsterdam, August 10, 1743, No. 39 (81 florins). In the National Museum at The Hague, 1808. Now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 1903 catalogue, No. 2240. 455. A VILLAGE WEDDING. Sm. 84 j W. 26. There are numerous small figures. The bride, with downcast eyes, stands in the centre of a courtyard ; she wears a blue dress and a white skirt. She is accompanied by two women, and is about to go to meet the bridegroom, who descends a flight of steps to the left. The bridegroom wears a purple costume with blue sleeves. On the steps are two old men and a child. At the window are musicians. In the foreground a girl is strewing flowers, which a little boy picks up. To the left are spectators. To the right is a little boy drinking water out of his hat, which he has filled at a well. In the background is a man keeping back the crowd with his stick. The picture is full of life and movement. The curiosity of the crowd, the cynicism of the musicians, and the shyness of the bride are admirably rendered, and the landscape is delicate. Signed in full, and dated 1653 > canvas, 25 inches by 32 inches. Exhibited at the Six exhibition, Amsterdam, 1900, No. 139. [Com- pare 482.] Sale. P. de Smeth van Alphen, Amsterdam, August I, 1810, No. 95 (2250 florins, De Vries). The identity of this picture with the above is wrongly questioned by W. In the Van Winter collection, Amsterdam. Now in the Six collection, Amsterdam ; where it was in 1833 (Sm.). 456. A VILLAGE WEDDING. Sm. 52 and Suppl. 27 ; W. 196. The bride sits to the right at a table ; her figure is almost hidden by that of a young man with a high hat who sits in front of her. He is conversing with an elderly woman with an anxious face and with her hands folded in her lap, who sits on the left side of the table. A man, upon whom an old woman lays her hand, stands and drinks from a tall glass. In the centre two peasants dance to the music of a fiddler seated on high. In the foreground stands a peasant with a tankard in one hand and a glass in the other ; he seems displeased with the quality of the wine. A stout peasant woman behind him watches him with a smile. On the left a flight of steps leads to a door by which a girl and her lover have entered ; the girl takes a pot from the wall. On the lowest steps sits a youth who is dozing ; his hat and pipe have fallen on the floor, and his left stocking has slipped down. At the back are other guests, and jovial folk enter at an open door. Branches hang from the ceiling. In the foreground a dog lies asleep on a cushion.
