A Landscape with Peasants and a Cart
- Artist: Isack van Ostade
- Date: 1645
- Medium: oil on wood
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This painting, "A Landscape with Peasants and a Cart", is the work of Isack van Ostade. Painted in 1645 using oil on wood, it's a rare example of Van Ostade's landscapes. You see, he was actually best known for his winter scenes.
Look at the scene unfolding before us - a peaceful countryside with a church spire and windmill in the distance. The painter has captured the atmosphere so vividly that you can almost hear the old man ease the horse to a halt as the giant wheel creaks. A playful little dog dances alongside the little boy paddling in the brackish water, while two men sit chatting by the pool, and another watches over his cattle behind the cart.
It's interesting to note that these types of peaceful rural scenes were extremely popular among seventeenth-century Dutch collectors. Perhaps they were drawn to them as a way to escape the hustle and bustle of city life.
See it in person
A Landscape with Peasants and a Cart hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
