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Isack van Ostade, 'A Landscape with Peasants and a Cart', 1645

About the work

In a mellow light, a group of peasants pause by a muddy pool in the shade of an oak tree. A woman perched high on a cart holds a basket and looks around her. Away in the distance to the right, a church spire and a windmill seem as delicate as cobwebs against the sky.

Isack van Ostade paints the scene with such feeling for real life that you can almost hear the giant wheel creak as the old man eases the horse to a halt. A playful little dog dances alongside the little boy who paddles in the brackish water. Two men sit and chat at the side of the pool and, behind the cart, another man watches over his cattle.

These peaceful rural scenes were very popular with seventeenth-century Dutch collectors perhaps looking for a country idyll in the midst of a busy city. Best known for his winter scenes, this is one of Isack van Ostade’s few landscapes.

Key facts

Full title
A Landscape with Peasants and a Cart
Artist
Isack van Ostade
Artist dates
1621 - 1649
Date made
1645
Medium and support
oil on wood
Dimensions
52.9 × 45.4 cm
Inscription summary
Signed; Dated
Acquisition credit
Salting Bequest, 1910
Inventory number
NG2544
Location
Not on display
Collection
Main Collection
Previous owners

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

More works by Isack van Ostade

A Farmyard
A Farmyard
Isack van Ostade
Isack van Ostade shows us a farmyard with a forsaken air, tranquil and atmospheric. Under an ancient oak tree a patch of sunlight picks out a wooden pen, a shelf above it holding an earthenware pot and a sieve. Behind them, a cart wheel and a basket lie forgotten in an old shed – its withering th...
Not on display
A Winter Scene
A Winter Scene
Isack van Ostade
Isack van Ostade’s little village seems to be a hard place to live. Although there’s no snow, the grey clouds threaten and there is a feeling of bone-chilling cold. The old cottage on top of the bank is ramshackle and touched with frost, its roof hardly robust enough to keep out the weather. And...
Not on display
The Interior of a Barn with Two Peasants
The Interior of a Barn with Two Peasants
Isack van Ostade
Light spills in through a window high up on the towering wall of the barn. It picks out a sturdy woman with her sleeves rolled up, her arms in a tub – she’s perhaps washing clothes. Around her, discarded articles – an earthenware jar, a wicker basket, some colourful rags – are heaped up among bal...
Not on display
The Outskirts of a Village, with a Horseman
The Outskirts of a Village, with a Horseman
Isack van Ostade
Life seems to amble along in this painting: there’s time for the horseman to pause, for the man beside him to communicate with his dogs and for two people to chat. The countryside setting appears almost timeless, though Isack van Ostade has explored the effects of time. Light flickers up the wall...
Room 23
An Inn by a Frozen River
An Inn by a Frozen River
Follower of Isack van Ostade
In the Dutch Republic at this time, paintings were a means of entertainment – scenes of outdoor life were meant to hold moments of interest that had to be teased out. Although it’s not immediately evident, this picture does exactly that.The huge expanse of sky is grey; the pub roof is almost fall...
Not on display