Peasants Dancing
Adriaen van der Venne (Delft 1589 - The Hague 1662)
Category
Art / Oil paintings
Date
1633 (signed and dated)
Materials
Oil on oak panel (brunaille)
Measurements
302 x 371 mm (11 7/8 x 14 5/8 in)
Place of origin
Holland
Order this imageCollection
Upton House, Warwickshire
NT 446740
Summary
Oil painting on panel (brunaille), Peasants Dancing, Adriaen Pietersz. van der Venne (Delft 1589 - The Hague 1662), signed and dated A P v. Venne 1633. (AP in monogram), inscribed Goed Rond (on scroll). A monochrome painted landscape with a stormy sky. Ten peasants are dancing in a ring to a flautist who stands at the left; in the distance, right, a church tower. As an ardent Protestant, van der Venne’s paintings often had a moralistic nature. Rather than enjoying themselves, the dancers appear trapped and unable to stop. The barrel and upturned flask suggest condemnation of their drunken revelry, as the two figures closest look helplessly out at the viewer.
Provenance
Anonymous sale, Christie's 15th May 1936, lot 99; bought by Sir Alec Martin (1884-1971) for Lord Bearsted; given with Upton House to the National Trust by Walter Samuel, 2nd Viscount Bearsted (1882 – 1948), in 1948, shortly before his death
Credit line
Upton House, The Bearsted Collection (National Trust)
Marks and inscriptions
A P v. Venne 1633 (AP in monogram, signed and dated)
Makers and roles
Adriaen van der Venne (Delft 1589 - The Hague 1662), artist