Purchased with funds from the State of North Carolina, 1952, and dedicated in memory of Noelle Ocon, Senior Conservator of Paintings (1997–2020), by the NCMA Board of Trustees, 2020
While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the tablets of the Ten Commandments from God, his brother Aaron created a golden idol for the Israelites to worship. The Worship of the Golden Calf depicts this story from Exodus in the Hebrew Bible. The story warns people against the worship of anything other than God. The second of the Ten Commandments claims that this is a sin.
Dutch painter Jan Steen painted lively and chaotic scenes with a playful attitude. He was known as a talented visual storyteller. Steen often portrayed himself in the crowd scenes in his paintings. He is the figure shown playing the triangle in the center foreground of this work. The scene depicts an atmosphere of luxury and excess, including images of fine fabrics, musical instruments, silver platters, exotic flowers, ripe fruit, and a parrot.
Steen was a lifelong Catholic. He lived during a period of religious debate in favor of Protestantism. The Dutch Revolt was a conflict between Catholic Spain and Dutch Protestants that ended in 1648. Dutch colonization and trade brought wealth to the Netherlands during the 17th century. There were many developments in the arts and sciences during this time.
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