Best in show

“Jonathan Leaman’s work is strongly influenced by the history of art and this picture is particularly inspired by the narrative paintings of the 17th-century Dutch master Jan Steen.

Many of Steen’s domestic paintings are all about morality, virtue and the dangers of excess. Leaman – who often focuses on slightly sinister family rituals in his work – has produced a scene that, at first glance, seems to capture perfectly the sense of barely-organised chaos in family life.

On closer inspection, however, you begin to notice coded symbols and odd details. There’s a bed being taken through the kitchen, for example, an act that is also mysteriously mirrored in the style of Botticelli on the rear wall, another nod to Leaman’s art history leanings.

An old lady sitting at the table is either receiving a coin or having it taken away by a woman, depending on your point of view. And look at how close the baby is to the father figure who is crying while chopping onions with a very sharp knife.

There are a couple of owls (a traditional representation of good fortune) but as one is alive on top of the door and another lies dead on the table, there’s obviously some contradiction.

There are also references to religious imagery with the lily, which represents innocence and purity, and some spilt red wine, which signifies the blood of Christ.

This picture is in the ‘home’ section of our exhibition, which charts the changing face of the family through 400 years of British art. In it, Leaman also displays his fondness for the narrative and allegorical approach of 19th-century artists.

This is a multi-generational scene and everyone seems to have a purpose in it but there are hints of other stories. It looks like the adolescent girl in the doorway at the back could be pregnant, for example.

The artist uses his own friends and relations as models and while many of the characters look very real and precise, the children carrying the bed seem to have strange, old-looking faces. You can’t actually be sure they’re all members of the same family.

And all this is bathed in a weird yellow light so you cannot tell at what time of day it’s taking place. But while he puts in lots of clues and symbols, Leaman wants the viewer to make up his or her own mind as to what’s happening here.”

The Family in British Art is at the Millennium Gallery, Sheffield, until 29 April. It then tours to the Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, and Tate Britain, London

Louisa Briggs is the curator of visual art at Museums Sheffield