Artwork
Peasants Outside a Farm Slaughtering a Pig
Peasants Outside a Farm Slaughtering a Pig is an ink print by the Baroque artist Adriaen van Ostade. It dates from 1652 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created circa 1652, this print by Dutch artist Adriaen van Ostade portrays a quiet moment on a farm at daybreak. Two men support a pig laid upon a table while a woman prepares a knife, and a dog lingers nearby. The composition captures a routine agricultural activity, rendered in the modest, unembellished manner characteristic of Ostade’s interest in everyday life.
Subject & Meaning
The scene focuses on peasants engaged in the slaughter of a pig, a task that would have been a regular part of rural subsistence. By presenting the participants calmly and without dramatization, the work underscores the normalcy of such labor, reflecting a broader 17th‑century Dutch tendency to document the ordinary rather than the heroic.
Technique & Style
Ostade employed a combination of etching and drypoint on laid paper. The acid‑etched lines provide clear, precise outlines, while the drypoint scratches add a softer, velvety edge to certain areas, giving texture to the figures and animal. This hybrid approach enhances the tactile quality of the print, emphasizing both detail and atmospheric depth.
History & Provenance
The print belongs to the period when Ostade was prolific in producing genre prints for the Dutch market. Though specific ownership records are sparse, the work has been catalogued among his printed oeuvre and appears in several 19th‑century collections of Dutch graphic art, indicating its circulation among connoisseurs of the period.
Artist & collection
Artist
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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Peasants Outside a Farm Slaughtering a Pig