; Les paysans tuant un porc
Edinburgh: c1800. Etching on thin cream laid paper, 4 11/16 x 4 11/16 inches (117 x 117 mm), narrow margins. Horizontal edge tear extending approximately 1-inch into the image area at the center left sheet edge. Skinning at the bottom-center sheet edge, verso, and adhesive residue at the top two corners, verso. Etched by David Deuchar after van Ostade, from A Collection of Etchings After the Most Eminent Masters of the Dutch and Flemish Schools particularly Rembrandt, Ostade, Cornelius Bega and Van Vliet, Edinburgh: 22 December, 1803.
"The pig killers is one of van Ostade’s most striking, both for its circular format and unusual lighting. Pictorial representations of pig slaughtering were known in medieval book illumination where they were incorporated into depictions of activities relating to the month of November or December. In this intimate, nocturnal scene, illuminated by torch light, van Ostade combines coarse, barnyard realism with tender observation as a peasant family gathers round to witness the slaughter of a pig, which presumably will feed the large family during the long winter months. As the eldest son kneels on the animal, the farmer’s wife collects the blood in her long handled pan, and her small children look on with curiosity." [The Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney].
Item number: 699
Price: $800.00
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