Peasants and Hay Wagon on a Country Road
Medium
Pen and brown ink, gray wash
Dimensions
5 13/16 x 6 7/8 in. (14.8 x 17.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1961
Accession Number
61.130.1
Tags
Art Historical Context
Jan Brueghel the Elder’s *Peasants and Hay on a Country Road* the quiet rhythms of rural life in the Flemish countryside Created with delicate pen and brown heightened by gray wash, this small drawing (just under 6 by 7 inches) depicts travelers, villagers, and livestock moving along a winding path. A hay-laden wagon dominates the scene, accompanied by cows, dogs, and figures in simple dress, evoking the everyday bustle of 17th-century agrarian society. Brueghel, son of the renowned Pieter Bruegel the Elder, specialized in finely observed landscapes and genre scenes that celebrated both natur...