Family seated at a Table for a Meal, Adriaen van Ostade, 1653
etching, h 156mm × w 131mm More details
This family is far from affluent. They live in an old, dilapidated building, and their furnishings are sparse and spartan. Yet they still say grace before they eat. The message of the print would have had a familiar ring to a 17th-century audience: whoever you are, young or old, rich or poor, be satisfied with what you have, because everything is a gift from God.
