Opening Night at the Museum
In the exhibition “Jan Steen’s Histories”, the Dutch Mauritshuis or Maurits Museum exhibits a selection of Jan Steen’s finest historic paintings. This seventeenth-century Dutch painter is best known for his paintings of chaotic and disorderly scenes of everyday life. This gave rise to the popular Dutch proverb ‘a Jan Steen household’. But he also painted very different subjects; like stories from the Bible, classical mythology and antiquity. From 15 February until 13 May 2018, the exhibition shows – by means of twenty-one paintings – that Steen was a versatile and ambitious painter with a keen eye for amusing stories and anecdotes.
This painting is “The Wrath of Ahasuerus” by Jan Steen (Leiden, Holland, about 1671-3 and painted with oil on canvas). You see King Ahasuerus rising up in fury as his wife Esther reveals the treachery of his chief minister Haman, who cringes to the left. According to the Bible (Esther 7:1-7), Haman plotted to massacre the Jews in the Persian empire. Queen Esther summoned the two men to a banquet where she revealed the plot and her own Jewish identity. The King’s violent reaction overthrows a vase and a peacock pie; the symbol of Haman’s fallen pride.
On the right you can see a different version of the same scene. Steen painted 5 different painting. This painting is part of the collection of Museum Bredieus in The Hague, The Netherlands.
The painting (129 x 167 cm) is since 1939 part of the permanent collection of The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham.
Technical stuff
I shot this photo with the X-T2 as this camera is capable to handle low light situation very well. The image had relatively little noise. I shot it at F4.0, 1/60th , -2/3 stops due to the lighting on the painting and at 8000 ISO. Post-production was quick and rather simple compared to other photo in mu stream. A bit of colour toning. Balancing the light across the image lightly. Cropping it a bit and leveling the painting’ frame. I held the camera well above my head. So, that gives you not so much control in a situation in which I would have used the EVF. Finally, I added the copyright watermark. The latter is, alas, there to stay due to the frequent copying of my photos. So, don't bother commenting on that.
Opening Night at the Museum
In the exhibition “Jan Steen’s Histories”, the Dutch Mauritshuis or Maurits Museum exhibits a selection of Jan Steen’s finest historic paintings. This seventeenth-century Dutch painter is best known for his paintings of chaotic and disorderly scenes of everyday life. This gave rise to the popular Dutch proverb ‘a Jan Steen household’. But he also painted very different subjects; like stories from the Bible, classical mythology and antiquity. From 15 February until 13 May 2018, the exhibition shows – by means of twenty-one paintings – that Steen was a versatile and ambitious painter with a keen eye for amusing stories and anecdotes.
This painting is “The Wrath of Ahasuerus” by Jan Steen (Leiden, Holland, about 1671-3 and painted with oil on canvas). You see King Ahasuerus rising up in fury as his wife Esther reveals the treachery of his chief minister Haman, who cringes to the left. According to the Bible (Esther 7:1-7), Haman plotted to massacre the Jews in the Persian empire. Queen Esther summoned the two men to a banquet where she revealed the plot and her own Jewish identity. The King’s violent reaction overthrows a vase and a peacock pie; the symbol of Haman’s fallen pride.
On the right you can see a different version of the same scene. Steen painted 5 different painting. This painting is part of the collection of Museum Bredieus in The Hague, The Netherlands.
The painting (129 x 167 cm) is since 1939 part of the permanent collection of The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham.
Technical stuff
I shot this photo with the X-T2 as this camera is capable to handle low light situation very well. The image had relatively little noise. I shot it at F4.0, 1/60th , -2/3 stops due to the lighting on the painting and at 8000 ISO. Post-production was quick and rather simple compared to other photo in mu stream. A bit of colour toning. Balancing the light across the image lightly. Cropping it a bit and leveling the painting’ frame. I held the camera well above my head. So, that gives you not so much control in a situation in which I would have used the EVF. Finally, I added the copyright watermark. The latter is, alas, there to stay due to the frequent copying of my photos. So, don't bother commenting on that.