Lot 1457 Nα

Joost Cornelisz. Droochsloot is primarily known for his village scenes, for which the present work is a characteristic example. The village green takes up the entire width of the image but is flanked on both sides by houses and trees whilst a path winds into the background of the work. The artist has filled his panoramic composition with figures going about their business.
In his “Groote Schouburgh”, Arnold Houbraken already described this compositional scheme of a street lined with houses and a church in the background as typical for this Utrecht artist ("...weerzyts de huizen van de Dorpbuurt, en de keuken in het verschiet"). Droochsloot apparently painted winter- and river landscapes in his early career, before specialising in village landscapes from around the 1630s onwards. Felice Guerde of the Centraal Museum Utrecht sees the quality and number of figures in the present work as a factor indicating an earlier date, as the artist later reduced the figures in his works and their fineness, presumably for economic reasons (in a written notice to the current owner dated 30.10.2010).