x ADRIAEN VAN OSTADE 341 his left elbow on the cask. The third man sits on a high bench in front of the door, with his hand in his breast. The characteristic tones are the purple and red in one man's costume. For the rest, the local colours are very weak. Painted under the influence of Brouwer. Signed in full on the right, and dated 1643 > panel, 8 inches by 7 inches. In the collection of Louisa Ulrica, Queen of Sweden. In the collection of Gustavus III. King of Sweden. In the Stockholm National Museum, 1900 catalogue, No. 552. 665. FIGURES IN AN INTERIOR. Very small figures. Signed in full, and dated 1634. In the Herzog collection, Vienna. 666. INTERIOR WITH ABOUT ELEVEN FIGURES.- A peasant gives a woman a glass of beer. Painted about 1648. The pendant is a copy of an early work by Ostade. In the Palace of Tsarskoe Selo, near St. Petersburg, No. 26. 667. READING A JEST IN THE VILLAGE INN. In the interior of a rustic inn a humpbacked man who seems lame and has a sack on his back reads out a jest from a paper. To the right of him a hurdy-gurdy player and a woman listen attentively ; the peasants drinking and smoking on the left laugh at the jest. Various utensils lie on the floor or hang in the loft above. A work of the earlyrperiod, in a delicate silver- grey tone. Formerly attributed to Isack.van Ostade. Panel, 16 inches by 13 inches. Given by Count Lamberg to the Academy in 1821. In the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, 1900 catalogue, No. 732. 668. THREE PEASANTS CONVERSING IN A ROOM. Two of them smoke. At the back are others. The lighting is that of the pictures painted about 1635. Signed with the monogram ; panel, 8 inches by 10 inches. In the collection of Prince Liechtenstein, Vienna, 1885 catalogue, No. 494. 669. FOUR PEASANTS AT AN INN. They are grouped round a small table in the centre. The right-hand man is seen from the back in a three-quarter view to the left ; he holds a jug in his left hand. The left-hand man stands as if he were telling a story. The third man sits between them, facing the spectator. He leans back comfortably in his chair, and holds a clay pipe in his right hand, which rests on the chair- arm. On the floor in front lie two playing-cards and a pipe. On the left, farther back, a brown jug stands on a cask. A genuine but not very important early work ; the date is not very clear but can only be read as 1639. Signed in full, and dated 1639 on the right at foot ; panel, 12 inches by 14 inches. Mentioned by Parthey, ii. 207. In the SchGnborn collection, Vienna, 1894 catalogue, No. 52.
