Jan Havicksz. Steen

With A. Reyre, London, 1919/20;
J.J.M. Chabot, Clarens, Switzerland, by 1923 until after 1934 (inv. no. 1124);
A. Chabot, Rotterdam;
Thence by descent.

Leiden, De Lakenhal, Jan Steen tentoonstelling, 16 June - 31 August 1926, p. 20, no. 32;
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, by 1934 (both the above on loan from J.J.M. Chabot).

H.P. Bremmer, in Beeldende Kunst, XIII, no. 10, August 1926, pp. 74-5, reproduced no. 74;
Alphabetische lijst der Schilderijen, pastels-aquarellen tentoongesteld in het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1934, p. 69, no. 2250b;
Catalogus der schilderijen, pastels-miniaturen-aquarellen tentoongesteld in het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1934, p. 271, no. 2250b.

The actual painting is less red and more natural in tone than the catalogue illustration suggests. The canvas has an effective relining. No damages are visible to the naked eye. The paint surface has a fine craquelure throughout and is under a clear but shiny layer of varnish. The paint layer has grown slightly thin in some areas, e.g. in the crippled's coat, in his hat, and in the centre background, but otherwise, appears well preserved. Minor retouching can be observed in the bricks lower left, in the leaves and in the house upper centre. Inspection under UV light reveals a few additional scattered tiny retouchings, e.g. in the girl's face and sleeve, in the sky upper right, and in the old man's forehead and legs. Offered in a plain black wood frame in good condition.
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The title this work traditionally has been given is Aalmoes, or alms, and probably originates from the 19th Century. It is fitting as the young girl, standing in a doorway, puts down a coin in the hat of an old cripple before her. He has probably just knocked unexpectedly on her door, as she has only opened the upper half of it.

Steen has captured this encounter with great attention to detail. We see how he has portrayed the girl carefully observing the beggar receiving her gift, his meticulous rendering of the small bricks of the stone house, and how he has carefully painted the vine tendrils growing besides and above the door. It is through these stylistic details that Wouter Kloek dates this work to circa 1658. It can be closely compared to Bakker Arend Oostwaert, in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (inv. no. A 390)¹, which can be roughly dated around the same year, as well as to a few other works, such as The Milkman, of circa 1655-58, of which the present whereabouts are unknown.² Both works show comparable vine tendrils and brickwork and attest to the period when Steen had just moved from Delft to Leiden. One can clearly detect the influence of Steen's fellow townsmen, the Leiden Fijnschilders such as Frans van Mieris in his work at this date, not only in the attention to detail, but also in the choice of subject matter.

We are grateful to Wouter Kloek of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam and Fred G. Meijer of the R.K.D., The Hague for confirming the attribution on the basis of first hand inspection, and to Guido Jansen, of the Boijmans van Beuningen museum, Rotterdam, for confirming the attribution on the basis of photographs.

1. See P.J.J. van Thiel et. al., Alle schilderijen van het Rijksmuseum te Amsterdam, Amsterdam 1976, p. 522.
2. See G. Jansen (ed.), Jan Steen, schilder en verteller, exhibition catalogue, Zwolle 1996, p. 124, under cat. no. 8, fig. 3.