1652
ink
paper
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
Peasants Feasting at an Inn is a 1652 ink by Adriaen van Ostade, a Baroque work, held at National Gallery of Art.
This etching shows a crowded, dimly lit room where a group of people in worn clothes sit around a table. Some are eating, others are talking or playing music, while a man in the back pours drinks. The walls are rough wood, and tools hang on the shelves—it looks like a busy tavern or workshop. The artist used fine lines to show every detail, from the wrinkles in the clothes to the grain of the wood. This kind of careful linework is typical of etchings. Next, look up the technique: etching, drypoint, aquatint to see how artists create these sharp, detailed 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.
See the richer artist page
