This boisterous family is making a lot of noise: the father sings at the top of his lungs while raising a glass; the mother and grandmother chime in; and the children are either blowing into a wind instrument or smoking a long pipe. The note hanging from the mantelpiece gives away the moral of the story: ‘As the old sing, so shall the young twitter.’ What will become of the children if their parents set the wrong example?
1668
Oil on canvas
110.5 x 141.0cm
SK-C-229
Image and text courtesy of Rijksmuseum, 2019
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Rijksmuseum
Permanent collection
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