Jan Steen (1626-1679) is widely admired as one of the most engaging and technically brilliant painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Accompanying an exhibition that is the first anywhere to be devoted to Steen's Old Testament subjects, this publication takes as its focal point his magnificent Wrath of Ahasuerus (c.1668-70), one of the highlights of the Barber's collection. The interconnections with Jewish history in Steen's Old Testament scenes are explored, as well as the influence of Dutch theatre on his compositions, and the critical response to them since the seventeenth century.
