Peasants Outside a Farm Slaughtering a Pig

c. 1652

Adriaen van Ostade

Associated Names
Adriaen van Ostade

Artist, Dutch, 1610 - 1685

This is a drawing of a group of people gathered around a fallen animal outside a rustic building. The scene is depicted within an oval frame. In this detailed black and white etching, several figures in the foreground are dressed in simple, historical costumes typical of rural life, surrounding what appears to be a pig lying on the ground. One individual appears to be actively involved with the animal, while others stand by. The background reveals a thatched roof building with visible wooden beams and windows, and a large tree arching overhead. The drawing captures a moment of everyday rural activity with intricate line work and shading.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching, with touches of drypoint, on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet (trimmed within plate mark): 11.5 × 11.6 cm (4 1/2 × 4 9/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1943.3.8314

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    New Hollstein, no. 30, State ii/viii

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

D. G. de Arozarena, [before 1860] Paris (Lugt 109); (sale, C.G. Boerner, Leipzig, May 10, 1929, no. 834); purchased by Lessing J. Rosenwald [1891-1979], Jenkintown, PA (Lugt 1932d), 1929; gift to NGA, 1943.

Associated Names

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. 41, ii/viii.

1990

  • Godefroy, Louis. The Complete Etchings of Adriaen van Ostade. San Francisco, 1990: no. 41, ii/viii.

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. 30, ii/viii.

Inscriptions

in plate, within image at lower left: Av.ostade; verso, center, in graphite by a later hand: 834 [encircled]; lower left, in graphite by a later hand: B.41 / B. 41/ DAS II; lower right, in graphite by a later hand: 925-

Wikidata ID

Q65018508

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