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
Rights
Public Domain
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...