David Teniers the Younger, 'A Cottage by a River with a Distant View of a Castle', about 1650

Time has not been kind to this picture. Colours have been darkened by layers of old varnish and some outlines made indistinct, but Teniers’ delight in small episodes in peasant life and his portrayal of entertaining characters remains undimmed. Many of his paintings show an invented landscape, this view perhaps shows a castle in the distance that may one day be identified.

The sky is vast. A river meanders across the middle ground then turns sharply to the right, where the flurry of small white waves indicates more turbulent water. Two men fish on the bank close to us. Judging by the new shoots on the two willow trees, one near the cottage and the other by the river, this is a spring scene. The huge pile of pots by the young maid – a heavy session of spring cleaning – seems to confirm it. But Teniers was never content with showing a pleasant view and peasants at work: as ever, he gives us interaction between interesting and usually comical characters.

The maid, working hard in her cheerful red dress, enlivens the scene with the bright touch of colour. She turns to look at the old man, who glances back at her – seemingly just a passing greeting. But then we see the shadowy figure in the doorway of the cottage. An older woman leans back to look at the maid, her expression inscrutable, leaving us to interpret the story Teniers painted – perhaps one with the innuendo for which he was famous.

Teniers used these characters many times. The old man bears a strong resemblance to the white-bearded character of Winter in a group of paintings of the seasons in the National Gallery, while the figure of a woman leaning back to look out of a doorway is repeated in A View of a Village with Three Peasants talking in the Foreground. And he didn't stop at figures: the cottages in this painting and in A View of a Village carry a thatcher’s trademark, a crown made of reeds, on the rooftop. A hoist is shown from both their top windows, ready to haul the autumn harvest into the attic for storing.

Teniers’ paintings were highly prized in his time and he became extremely successful internationally, working for King Philip IV of Spain, Prince William of Orange and Archduke Leopold William, the Governor of the Netherlands. He was wealthy enough to buy a large country house and towards the end of his life was made a nobleman.