Peasant Inn after 1680

Adriaen van Ostade painted this scene of a "Peasant Inn" during the Dutch Golden Age, a time of burgeoning trade and distinctive artistic styles. This painting encapsulates the period's fascination with everyday life, particularly scenes of the lower classes. We can see this through the crowded, smoky interior, filled with peasants drinking, playing music, and generally reveling. But it's essential to ask: for whom was this image made? These genre paintings were frequently purchased by the middle class, eager to see depictions of those beneath them. By examining inventories, tax records, and the publications of the day, we can begin to understand how the Dutch understood their own social hierarchy. Ostade's painting offers us a glimpse into this world, but it's through careful historical inquiry that we can truly decode its meanings.