Adriaen van Ostade, 'A Peasant courting an Elderly Woman', 1653
About the work
Overview
In this tender little scene, Adriaen van Ostade shows an elderly peasant with his hand on that of a woman about his age. He leans towards her, his other hand holding a tall, full beer glass – perhaps denoting his desire for her. Her hand is on a long unbroken clay pipe – in Dutch art of the time this often symbolised virginity. She smiles a little, but has not yet raised her eyes to his, so we sense her shyness and uncertainty.
In the eighteenth century a print of the two elderly lovers was known as ‘Het schollenmannetje’, literally ‘the little plaice man’, referring to the fish on the table, perhaps brought as a gift to the man’s beloved.
Eight hundred of Adriaen van Ostade’s paintings are known, most of them small genre scenes. They show his skill in portraying human emotions with a keen eye for reality and, in this case, great sensitivity and empathy.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Peasant courting an Elderly Woman
- Artist
- Adriaen van Ostade
- Artist dates
- 1610 - 1685
- Date made
- 1653
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 27.3 × 22.1 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Salting Bequest, 1910
- Inventory number
- NG2542
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1806Paillet, Catalogue de tableaux, dessins sous verre et en feuilles, estampes et galeries… composant la curiosité de feu M. de St-Martin, Paris, 7 May 1806
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1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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.
Images
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