Boerenfamilie bij de haard

From the Rijksmuseum record

A family is gathered about the hearth in a meagre interior. By the fire, the oldest of the girls is drying a cloth. The mother is sitting beside a cradle feeding porridge to the youngest, while father and son look on. It was a favourite theme of Adriaen van Ostade’s, and he often introduced tiny variations: there was evidently considerable demand for these depictions of this simple, yet contented family.