Jan Miense Molenaer
Jan Miense Molenaer (1610 – buried 19 September 1668) was a Dutch Golden Age genre painter whose style was a precursor to Jan Steen's work during Dutch Golden Age painting. He shared a studio with his wife, Judith Leyster, also a genre painter, as well as a portraitist and painter of still-life. Both Molenaer and Leyster may have been pupils of Frans Hals.
Also recorded as Jan Mienze Molenaer · Jan Menisse Molenaer · Jan Miense Molynear · Jan Miense Molinaerdin
Jan Miense Molenaer

Attributed to Jan Miense Molenaer · Public domain
- Born
- 1610. · Haarlem.
- Died
- 1668. · Haarlem.
- Nationality
- Dutch Republic.
- Occupation
- painter.
- Fields
- genre.
- Movements
- Baroque.
- Teachers
- Frans Hals.
- Known for
- The Five Senses: Touch and Battle Between Carnival and Lent.
- Languages
- Dutch.
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Documentary summary
Jan Miense Molenaer (1610 – buried 19 September 1668) was a Dutch Golden Age genre painter whose style was a precursor to Jan Steen's work during Dutch Golden Age painting. He shared a studio with his wife, Judith Leyster, also a genre painter, as well as a portraitist and painter of still-life. Both Molenaer and Leyster may have been pupils of Frans Hals.
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Authority files
gnd · 5546575-4 · wikidata · Q759588 · wikipedia · Jan Miense Molenaer
In this article
Biography
Biography
Training under Frans Hals is recorded. Judith Leyster is recorded as having studied under Jan Miense Molenaer. The recorded working language is Dutch. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are genre. Places of work recorded in the authority are Haarlem, Amsterdam and Heemstede. Works named in the authority record are The Five Senses: Touch and Battle Between Carnival and Lent. Work by Jan Miense Molenaer is recorded in the collections of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Städel Museum, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Nationalmuseum and Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium.
Molenaer was born and died in Haarlem. He achieved a style close to Hals' early on in his career, but later developed a style like that of Dutch genre painter, Adriaen van Ostade. His genre works often depicted players of music, such as his The Music Makers (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest), The Duet (Seattle Art Museum), or Family Making Music (Frans Hals Museum). He also depicted Taverns and the activities of card games or games of the times such as La main chaude, or in Dutch, Handjeklap, which literally means clapping hands. Molenaer also cleverly depicted biblical stories in his own time and surroundings, such as representing a scene from Peter's Gospel set in a Dutch Tavern in The Denying of Peter (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest).
Selected works
Selected works
1629 – The Dentist, Oil on panel, (North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh) 1629 – Two Boys and a Girl Making Music, Oil on canvas, (National Gallery, London) 1630 – A Quack and His Assistant, Oil on canvas, (Private Collection) 1630 – The Duet, Oil on canvas, (Seattle Art Museum, Seattle) 1630/32 – A Young Man playing a Theorbo and a Young Woman playing a Cittern, Oil on canvas, (National Gallery, London) 1631 – Painter in His Studio, Painting a Musical Company, Oil on canvas, (Staatliche Museen, Berlin) 1633 – Allegory of Vanity, Oil on canvas, (Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo) 1633 – Allegory of Marital Fidelity, Oil on canvas, (Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond) 1633/35 – Battle Between Carnival and Lent, Oil on wood, (Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis) 1635 – Card Players, Oil on panel, (Currier Museum of Art, Manchester) 1635 – Young Smoker, Oil on panel, (Accademia Carrara, Bergamo) 1635 – Family Making Music, Oil on panel, (Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem) 1636 – The Denying of Peter, Oil on canvas, (Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest) 1640s – Woman Holding a Jug, Oil on panel, (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston)

Dorpsfeest - Jan Miense Molenaer - Museum voor Schone Kunsten Gent - 1
Wikimedia Commons
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1610
Jan Miense Molenaer born at Haarlem.
1668
Jan Miense Molenaer died at Haarlem.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q759588: Jan Miense Molenaer
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Jan Miense Molenaer”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Jan Miense Molenaer: painter of the Dutch golden age, Choice Reviews Online, 2003
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2003
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 5546575-4, Exhibition Jan Miense Molenaer, Painter of the Dutch Golden Age (2002-2003 : Raleigh, NC u.a.).
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Rkd.nl. Home Jan Miense Molenaer.
- 2.Artnet.com. Grove Dictionary of Art. 2014-06-12.
- 3.Wga.hu. Web Gallery of Art, image collection, virtual museum, searchable database of European fine arts (1000–1900).
- 4.Wga.hu. Kren and Marx Comments on The Denying of Peter in the Web Gallery of Art, www.wga.hu.
- 5.Dennis P. Weller, North Carolina Museum of Art. Jan Miense Molenaer: Painter of the Dutch Golden Age. Hudson Hills. 2002. 9780882599885.
- 6.North Carolina Museum of Art. The Dentist.
- 7.Nationalgallery.org.uk. Jan Miense Molenaer | Two Boys and a Girl making Music | NG5416 | The National Gallery, London.
- 8.The Duet, ca. 1629.
- 9.Nationalgallery.org.uk. Jan Miense Molenaer | A Young Man and Woman making Music | NG1293 | The National Gallery, London.
- 10.Vmfa.state.va.us. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts | Richmond, Virginia.
- 11.Archived copy. www.ima-art.org.
- 12.EmbARK Web Kiosk. collections.currier.org.
- 13.Giovane fumatore Molenaer Jan Miense 58MR00063 – Accademia Carrara di Bergamo Pinacoteca. Accademia Carrara di Bergamo Pinacoteca Dead link. September 2025.
- 14.Molenaer, Jan Miense, Haarlem 1610/11 - Haarlem 1668, Family Making Music, c. 1635.
- 15.Mfa.org. Collections | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Verifiedauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 5546575-4, Exhibition Jan Miense Molenaer, Painter of the Dutch Golden Age (2002-2003 : Raleigh, NC u.a.).Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q759588: Jan Miense MolenaerWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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