Paulus Potter (Enkhuizen 1625-1654 Amsterdam)

One of a number of drawings executed in the same technique and showing similar pastoral subjects that were executed in the mid-1640s. Other sheets from the group include the Cow calving in a barn (Albertina, Vienna; The Hague, 2005, no. 37, fig. 1) and the deer in a wood (Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento; The Hague, 2005, no. 35, fig. 1). The latter is a version of a composition also seen in a drawing from the Rijksmuseum, which is dated 1647, thereby suggesting a date for the whole series (The Hague, 2005, no. 35). None of the drawings seems to be in preparation for a painting. In the present drawing Potter shows three peasants taking refuge under a thatched roof from the storm that rages around them, suggested by the vigorous strokes of chalk in the sky and the buffeted trees on the left-hand side of the sheet. One of the men, seated, appears to be stroking a dog at his feet while the other two may be drawing water from a pump or, alternatively, passing the time by dancing.