Adriaen van Ostade is one of the most highly regarded Dutch etchers of the seventeenth century, after Rembrandt. He is known to have made fifty etchings, with his dated prints being made between 1647 and 1679; he was also a prolific painter, draughtsman and watercolourist. Much of van Ostade’s work depicts peasants in picturesque, decaying buildings. This romanticisation of the hardships of rural life was common in genre scenes, although van Ostade’s art suggests that he became more sympathetic, and less satirical, towards his subject matter throughout his life.