Farmyard Scene: The Vintage

Theobald Michau 1676 - 1765

Summary

This scene of everyday life in early 18th century Flanders takes place at harvest time. It could be a representation of Autumn from a series of the Seasons and a companion scene to Farmyard Scene: Reaping (Manchester Art Gallery 1979.473). Two peasants are treading grapes in a large wooden vat, while others stand around talking, perhaps discussing business or the harvest. A small child reaches into a large basket of grapes in the foreground. Several of the figures are visitors: a large bundle and a tall stick lie in the foreground, while two of the men carry on their backs large wooden crates of the sort used by pedlars. One of them can be seen departing in the direction of a nearby village, just visible through the haze. Michau trained in Brussels with Lucas Achtschellinck (1626–1699). He became a master at the Brussels Guild of St Luke in 1698 and was at the Antwerp guild from 1710. His landscapes and genre scenes are in the anecdotal narrative tradition of Jan Brueghel the Elder and David Teniers the Younger.