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The Drunken Couple

Jan Steenca. 1655 - ca. 1665

Rijksmuseum

Rijksmuseum
Amsterdam, Netherlands

A man and woman are so drunk that they are unaware they are being robbed. Their foolishness is underscored by the print on the partition. It depicts an owl, considered a stupid creature in the 17th century. After all, it could not see by day, not even with a candle or eyeglasses. The drunken couple is thus just as blind as the owl, a message that survives in the English idiom ‘blind as a bat’.

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  • Title: The Drunken Couple
  • Creator: Steen, Jan Havicksz.
  • Date Created: ca. 1655 - ca. 1665
  • Physical Dimensions: olieverf
  • Rights: http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/
Rijksmuseum

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