The Feast of St Nicholas

The feast of St Nicholas takes place in December. In the Netherlands , it has been celebrated in the same way for centuries. Good children receive gifts from the saint. The little girl in the foreground, for instance, has a bucket full of treats. Naughty children, like the wailing boy at the left, get only a switch (a bundle of twigs) in their shoe . Jan Steen was a born storyteller. He succeeded in incorporating all of the elements of the popular feast in this picture.