Jan Steen is recognized as one of the prominent artists of the Dutch Golden period right alongside Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn. However, Steen didn't get as much appreciation during his lifetime, leaving behind upwards of 500 unsold paintings when he died (Gold 213). He lived a modest life as an artist, supplementing his income over the years by opening a couple taverns and an inn. Daily life was Steen's main pictorial theme and the tavern was a recurring setting for many scenes, especially during his period in Haarlem in the 1660s. His vivid portrayals of the Dutch social life were often humorous riddled with his own sort of moralizing, satirical comments he became recognized for. Steen has a real eye for comedy that deeply penetrated almost all of his paintings alas it was exactly this attention to humor that held him back from getting his foot in the fine art door. Vermeer's poised stillness and Rembrandt's dark, brooding imagery were praised as exemplars of Baroque style, making Steen's artwork seem like a joke to some contemporaries. Gaining a posthumous reputation as "Jan Steen, the 'good-for-nothing' slackard, capable of nothing better than drinking and jesting, he became the unfortunate bearer of a crass and low-class reputation in the art world. Although Steen might have lived his days at the alehouse, eventually turning his own dwelling into a tavern, his lifestyle should not detract from his real merits. Invariably categorized as a genre painter, Steen is also a gifted history painter, creating scenes showing the recreations of the middle and lower classes (TEXT 731). Although portions of his work are indeed humorous, they usually convey a serious message as well. Steen was more than a free drinker but a free liver and a philosopher with a profoundly acute eye. Located at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Jan Steen's Rhetoricians at a Window (1658-65) is a 17th century Baroque oil painting, picturing four men hanging out the upstairs window of a Tavern. As the title supposes they are members of a chamber of rhetoric; a type of dramatic and literary society popular in Holland and public readings like the one taking place in Rhetoricians at a Window were commonplace. Steen portrayed many scenes from the lives of the Rederijkers and while it's unknown if he himself belonged, "the humanity, humour and optimism of the figures suggest that Jan Steen knew these men well, and wanted to portray them positively  (Gudlaugsson). The characters in this scene have a genuine living quality to them. It feels like a real moment Jan Steen witnessed, capturing and exaggerating all the subtleties of their personalities and expression in ruddy detail. The star figure of this composition is the group orator reading aloud from a paper titled; "Lof Liet  or "Song of Praise . He hides the po