Four Men at a Window, One Reading from a Sheet by Candlelight

c. 1653

Adriaen van Ostade

Associated Names
Adriaen van Ostade

Artist, Dutch, 1610 - 1685

The image shows three people standing behind a window divided by a wooden cross frame. The person on the left holds a lit candle, illuminating the faces of the others. This individual wears a hooded garment and gazes at the candle. In the middle, another person leans in, partially showing their face and smiling while wearing a cap. The third person on the right holds a piece of paper, closely examining it. They have prominent eyebrows and a slightly open mouth. The individuals wear loose-fitting clothing similar in style, resembling robes or tunics. The window frame above them is decorated with vines and a suspended jug. The background is dark, focusing on the figures, the candlelight, and the paper.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, with touches of drypoint, on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed to plate mark): 23.8 x 18.9 cm (9 3/8 x 7 7/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8298

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 36, State iv/vi

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Fritz Rumpf [1856-1927], Potsdam (Lugt 2161); (sale, C.G. Boerner, Leipzig, May 7-9, 1928, no. 824); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1932d), 1928; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1953

  • Old Master Etchings and Engravings, Birmingham Museum of Art, AL, 1953.

1960

  • Gothic to Baroque, Allentown Art Museum, 1960, no. 72, repro.

1971

  • A Selection of 17th Century Intaglio Prints from the National Gallery of Art Rosenwald Collection, New Jersey State Museum, Trenton, 1971-1972, no. 26.

1996

  • Scenes of Daily Life: Genre Prints from the Housebook Master to Rembrandt van Rijn, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1996.

2000

  • Drawings and Prints from the Permanent Collection (Summer 2000), National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2000.

Bibliography

1949

  • Hollstein, F.W.H. et al. Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts, ca. 1450-1700. 72 vols. Amsterdam: Menno Hertzberger, 1964; vol. XV, no. 19, iv/vii.

1990

  • Godefroy, Louis. The Complete Etchings of Adriaen van Ostade. San Francisco, 1990: no. 19, iv/vii.

1993

  • The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, 1450-1700. (Adriaen van Ostade, Paolo Giordani and Jaco Rutgers, authors). Ouderkerk aan den Ijssel: Sound & Vision Publishers, 2023: no. 36, iv/vi.

Inscriptions

in plate, in margin below image at bottom right: A. v. Ostade fecit et excud.; verso, top center, in graphite by a later hand, upside down: B-19; center right, in graphite by a later hand: 824 [underlined]; bottom left, in graphite by a later hand: B.19 Dav IV.; bottom right, in graphite by a later hand: 8

Wikidata ID

Q65018493

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