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Adriaen van de Velde, 'Peasants with Cattle fording a Stream', about 1662

About the work

This painting carries many of the hallmarks of an Italianate picture: a soft Mediterranean light, the sun still warm although night is falling, distant hills not likely to be seen in a flat Dutch landscape, and idealised peasants with their garments loosened and walking at a leisurely pace. As far as we know, Adriaen van de Velde never went to Italy, but he knew artists who had and who allowed him access to their work.

Van de Velde’s depiction of the young man leading the cow is particularly skilled and sensitive: both have real weight and substance, yet show delicate details of texture, like the feathery hairs on the cow’s face and the flowing folds of the man’s shirt. This realism comes from the many superb drawings, mostly in red chalk, that van de Velde made from life.

Key facts

Full title
Peasants with Cattle fording a Stream
Artist
Adriaen van de Velde
Artist dates
1636 - 1672
Date made
about 1662
Medium and support
oil on canvas
Dimensions
32.4 × 37.8 cm
Acquisition credit
Bought, 1871
Inventory number
NG868
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

More works by Adriaen van de Velde

A Farm with a Dead Tree
A Farm with a Dead Tree
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Like many of Adriaen van de Velde’s paintings, this is a quiet picture. The conversation between the milkmaid and the man with the basket seems amicable, with nothing to disturb the rhythmic swish of the milk into the pail. A pig hauls itself up on its haunches, looking as if it will roll over an...
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A Goat and a Kid
A Goat and a Kid
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Painted with Adriaen van de Velde’s usual attention to the detail of texture, the animals in the picture seem almost tangible. The kid turns its head quickly, its eye and coat soft, its pose dainty and alive. The goat stands steady but alert, two long strands of dark hair lying over the pale, sha...
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A Landscape with a Farm by a Stream
A Landscape with a Farm by a Stream
Adriaen van de Velde
Adriaen van de Velde’s tranquil views made him one of the most successful Dutch landscape artists of his time. In this picture, the low horizon and high viewpoint give the impression of a vast distance ending in a range of low, misty hills.These hills are, like the rest of the scene, entirely ima...
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Animals near a Building
Animals near a Building
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Adriaen van de Velde’s pastoral scenes are, like this one, almost always tranquil and serene. They were designed to be easy to live with, and to give city dwellers a sense of being in touch with the countryside and traditional life. But although the paintings are tranquil there’s a sense of energ...
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Golfers on the Ice near Haarlem
Golfers on the Ice near Haarlem
Adriaen van de Velde
Paintings of life on the frozen waterways of Holland during the Little Ice Age were very popular with collectors at the time. Many artists, usually known for painting rivers or landscapes, produced them, and Adriaen van de Velde was one of the most successful. But in this painting he has concentr...
Room 16
The Edge of a Wood
The Edge of a Wood
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A shepherd sleeps on a bank on the edge of a wood, his dog curled up beside him and his crook laid carefully on the grass. The sun is bright but gives a cool light and seemingly little heat. The sky is cloudless – a crisp, clear blue – and the feathery new leaves of the trees are outlined sharply...
Not on display