The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

The Drunken Couple

1685

Cornelis Dusart

(Dutch, 1660–1704)
Netherlands
etching
Platemark: 13.1 x 10.9 cm (5 3/16 x 4 5/16 in.); Sheet: 13.5 x 11 cm (5 5/16 x 4 5/16 in.)
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis B. Williams Collection 1943.560
Location: 101A Prints & Drawings

Did You Know?

Thatched roofs like the one depicted here were popular throughout Europe until the 1800s. Many of the thatched roofs in Europe today contain straw dating back to the 1600s.

Description

Images of intoxicated individuals were intended to be humorous, but they also had serious undertones. Moralizing texts and preachers described drinking as sinful, immoral, and a threat to social norms. Accordingly, a drunk woman, as seen here, compromised the well-being of the home, which was thought to have an impact on society as a whole.
  • ?–1943
    Lewis B. Williams [1880–1966], Cleveland Heights, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 29, 1943–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • In Vino Veritas (In Wine, Truth). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 7, 2025-January 11, 2026).
    Seventeenth Century Netherlandish Graphics. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 27-August 1, 1982).
  • {{cite web|title=The Drunken Couple|url=false|author=Cornelis Dusart|year=1685|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1943.560