PAULUS POTTER (ENKHUIZEN 1625-AMSTERDAM 1654)
Two Sportsmen Outside an Inn
Signed and dated 1651RCIN 400942
This comic encounter depicts two wealthy sportsmen who come across a run-down inn. Their demands are met with exasperation from the innkeeper, who sits mopping his brow, and his wife, who scurries out from the dark interior (which she shares with a pig) to bring them a drink. Even the dogs notice the contrast in class, the hunting spaniel sniffing the innkeeper’s mongrel with suspicion.
Acquired by George IV in 1811
No. 10