Jan Miense Molenaer (1610-1668), one of Holland's most innovative painters of the seventeenth century, has been largely obscured by the attention paid to his wife, the artist Judith Leyster. His accomplishments are considerable, however, as he treated an enormous range of subject matter in his pictures from the late 1620s to the 1660s. In addition to his early genre scenes in the style of his probable teachers Frans and Dirck Hals, Molenaer also painted religious narratives, complex allegories, portraits, village classrooms, and peasant celebrations. This diversity and the comic element he often brought to his imagery identify him as a worthy successor of Pieter Bruegel the Elder and the true forerunner of Jan Steen.