Peasants in an Interior, known as ‘The Skaters’

A pair of skates lies on the floor of this village inn, and it gave the picture its old nickname, The Skaters. The name stuck early. An Amsterdam sale catalogue of 1720, very probably describing this panel, already called it the so well-known little skater. Van Ostade signed and dated it in the 1650s, though the last digit is hard to read. Villagers gather around the great hooded fireplace, and an old woman holds a cup to the lips of the small child on her lap. A man in a tall hat stands apart with his hands behind his back, and light comes in through a leaded window onto a table with bread. A small shaggy dog sits in the foreground.