Dutch peasant family

Van Ostade's drawings, paintings and engravings give an accurate picture of Dutch peasant life in the 17th century. Compared to the artist's earlier compositions, this drawing, produced around 1647-48, shows a lighter and more spacious interior, and the scene of the humble family eating oyster, with the children playing around their parents, is more idyllic and more harmonious than in his earlier works. This sheet is close to Ostade's etching entitled Peasant Family.