Family at the Table Before the Meal

This group of impressions (and copper plates) nicely encapsulates the breadth of Adriaen van Ostade’s etched oeuvre. He specialized in depictions of rural life with peasants in inns, at their farms, or dancing in the village square. Peasants are depicted both individually and as groups: playing the hurdy-gurdy, conversing, listening to buskers, or humbly saying grace before their meal.