847. A VILLAGE SCENE.
Isaac van Ostade (Dutch: 1621-1649).
Isaac, born at Haarlem, was the younger brother of Adrian van Ostade, with whom he remained as pupil till 1641, when he set up in business on his own account. There is a record of a transaction of his in that year which throws an interesting light on the picture-dealing world of the day. In 1643 a dealer summoned him for breach of a contract made in 1641 to deliver six pictures and seven "rounds" for twenty-seven florins. Part of Isaac's defence was that his pictures had since risen in value. The case was referred to the Painters' Guild, which decided that he must perform his contract, but that the number of the "rounds" should be reduced to five and the price of the whole be increased to fifty florins. It may be conjectured that the low value thus set upon the cottage scenes in his brother's manner induced Isaac to cultivate a different style of his own. This consisted largely of village inns (of which the present picture is a capital example), and winter scenes (among which No. 963 in our Gallery is a masterpiece). He combined a genuine appreciation of nature with great skill in the treatment of figures. He was fond, as will be seen, of introducing a white horse to serve as the principal light in his compositions.
This picture was bought by Sir Robert Peel for 400 guineas, and was esteemed, says Mrs. Jameson in her catalogue of his collection, "the masterpiece of the painter. The transparent, sparkling beauty of the execution was never surpassed. The figures, the foliage, the animals, the atmospheric effect, are all perfect."