Two sportsmen and women outside an inn

This is a classic sportsman’s drawing scene. A rich man is shooting in the dunes, visible in the background, while accompanied by a professional hunter with a gun and two birds. The space in which they have strayed has led them to a nearby inn with a broken pot announcing the inadequacy of the hospitality. The horseman, colourfully dressed and placed in the mounted centre, appears with a tankard of beer in his hand and his stirrup is adjusted by a nervous child whose mother brings another drink from an interior she shares with a pig. In the more advanced provinces of the Netherlands, segregation on farms between cattle and humans was introduced as early as the 17th century. Neither the mother nor the son wears shoes, a symbol of poverty rarely seen in Dutch painting. The old man, possibly an innkeeper, appears overwhelmed by the exasperation of dealing with such demanding customers.

Collection: Images

Project: 3. Rural world and urban world in the formation of the European identity., 4. Family, daily life and social inequality in Europe.

Chronology: XVII

Scope: Secondary Education, Baccalaureate, University

Link: https://www.rct.uk/collection/400942/two-sportsmen-outside-an-inn

Resource type: Image

Format: Oil on panel (53,3 x 43,7 cm)

Source: Royall Collection (Reino Unido)

Language: English

Date: 1651

Owner: Álvaro Romero González (Modernalia)