Slaughtering The Pig

Like David II Teniers, Frans Hals and his brother Isaac, Adriaen Van Ostade was strongly influenced by the Flemish painter Adriaen Brouwer, who lived in Van Ostade's hometown of Haarlem for some time. Like Brouwer, these painters had a specific interest in everyday village life, depicting the daily life of the “ordinary” people of the 17th century in an ironic (sometimes caricatural) manner. 
Although Van Ostade was best known for his tavern scenes, he also painted and drew everyday village life (later, these were often converted into engravings for commercial reasons, with Van Ostade being particularly influenced by Rembrandt). Here we see a pig being slaughtered and the meat being distributed among the villagers (a dog eats the leftovers). Although the format is relatively small, we see that the artist succeeds in creating a whole world and involving the viewer in the event. He uses his typical drawing style: loose yet accurate, without hesitation and very lively, using both brown and grey ink.

Signed below left V OFTADE
Pen pencil brown and grey ink white heightenings, 118 x 172 mm (4 ⁵/₈ x 6 ³/₄ inches)