Jan Miense Molenaer (1610 – 1668)

 was a Dutch Golden Age genre painter whose style was a precursor to Jan Steen's work during Dutch Golden Age painting. In 1636 he married the painter Judith Leyster. He shared a studio with his wife, 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. Molenaer was more learned and well-read than many other painters, as he got his inspiration from proverbs and poems by Jacob Cats and Gerbrand Adriaensz. Bredero. He painted a wide variety of genre subjects, including tavern interiors, representations of the five senses, weddings, merry companies and schools, as well as some family portraits. Molenaer was born and died in Haarlem. The displayed painting is a crop from: Two Boys and a Girl making Music 1629.