Peasants in an inn

The scene shows a dim interior of a rustic inn with a wooden ceiling and a stone arch on the left, where peasants are gathered around a rough wooden table, some seated on benches and chairs while one man with a hat plays a stringed instrument. Light enters from the left and through the windows, illuminating faces and hands and casting the rest of the room in shadow, with an earthy palette of browns, ochres, blues, and a touch of red. The composition centers the table and the clustered figures, characteristic of Adriaen van Ostade’s Dutch genre style, with naturalistic textures and a sober, intimate mood.