Interior of a Cottage

A scene of companionable silence has been captured, the gentle colour palette adding to this sense of calm. Devoid of the everyday clutter that is normally associated with rustic interior scenes, the bare floor and walls hint at a humble yet ordered life, pared back to a table and two chairs. Bathed in the light and fresh air from an open window, the woman has poured a glass of beer and is offering it to her male companion, their body language perhaps suggesting a marital bond. The carefree manner in which the pewter jug dangles from the woman’s hand perhaps suggests either weariness after a hard day’s work, or perhaps even slight intoxication, in this moment of pause. The woman’s white cap is a bright focal point, directing our attention to her gaze, which connects across the space to her husband, who returns her look. Other flashes of white create similar connections across the image, from the sheen of the pewter pitcher and flecks of reflected light on the glass to the highlight on the stem of the clay pipe.  

This genre scene, a painting depicting everyday life, portrays the quiet pleasure found in simple things, from a glass of beer to a pipe ready to be lit. Scenes of peasant life were popular subject matter in the seventeenth century and while many were commentaries on vice and immorality, it is the bonds of marriage which are perhaps highlighted here. Genre paintings such as this were typical of the work of Dutch artist, Adriaen van Ostade (1610-85). Over his career he mastered these small paintings, producing eight-hundred works that captured a range of real-life experiences. While his early career was focused on livelier aspects of rural life, his later works from the 1650s conveyed more peaceful scenes. Using a limited palette, he was skilled at portraying a range of textures – from the metallic sheen of pewter to the soft folds of an apron – and using contrasts of light that show the influence of his contemporary, Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69).