1653
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Four Men at a Window, One Reading from a Sheet by Candlelight is a 1653 ink by Adriaen van Ostade, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This black-and-white print shows four men crowded around a window. One holds a piece of paper close to a candle, reading aloud. The others lean in, listening intently. Their clothes look plain but warm, and the window frame is simple, with a dark curtain behind them. The artist used fine lines to show the texture of their faces and fabrics, almost like sketching with a sharp tool. The candlelight isn’t bright—just enough to see the paper and the men’s focused faces. Next, look up etching, drypoint, aquatint to see how artists create these kinds of prints.
Adriaen van Ostade (baptized as Adriaen Jansz Hendricx 10 December 1610 – buried 2 May 1685) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of genre works, showing the everyday life of ordinary men and women.
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