Document: Reading the News at the Weavers' Cottage, Adriaen van Ostade, Dutch 1673

This drawing shows the casual manner of conversation over a printed newspaper, a dutch door, and a child enjoying a snack without having to sit at the table.   Although it was made in the Netherlands, we can imagine that life in New Amsterdam also had moments like this one.

Met Museum Summary:This scene of a man reading the news surrounded by family and friends within the sunlit confines of a weavers' cottage epitomizes the rustic scenes of peasant life for which Ostade is so well known. Linen weaving, a profession practiced only by men, became the most important and lucrative occupation in Haarlem in the seventeenth century. Ostade celebrated the economic profit brought about by this industry in this outstanding watercolor, an autonomous work of art, and one which remained famous through the eighteenth century.