Peasant Couple in a Doorway

Adriaen van Ostade

National Gallery of Art

This print depicts two people standing closely together within an arched window or doorway. The person on the right is a woman, leaning over the windowsill, her body turned towards the right. She has pale skin, arched eyebrows, a long nose, and wide lips set in a smile. She wears a white headscarf covering her hair and is dressed in a simple dress with long sleeves. On the left and partially behind her is a man who is mostly in shadow. He has high cheekbones and deep-set eyes and is also smiling. He is wearing a dark coat and a wide-brimmed hat that sits at an angle on his head. He reaches one hand around the woman, placing it near her breast, and she has one hand on his wrist. The area behind the two people is black, but on the right leafy vines crawl down the side of the archway, and a lattice-like window is partially visible.