This idyllic landscape, with skittle players and figures seated on the grass outside The White Swan inn, is an unusual subject for Jan Steen, who is best known as a painter of rowdy domestic and tavern interiors. These inns are always packed with visitors, and the confused murmur of many voices is like the sound in a city square. These are inexpensive pleasures which all, even the humblest labourer, can share.' As can be seen from Steen's painting, some enterprising landlords provided entertainment for their customers, in this case skittles, which was a popular game in the Netherlands.