LE NAIN brothers
(b. 1598/1610, Laon, d. Louis and Antoine: 1648, Mathieu: 1677, Paris)

The Resting Horseman

1640s
Oil on canvas, 55 x 67 cm
Victoria and Albert Museum, London

The group of paintings usually attributed to Louis Le Nain generally said to represent peasants, however, to figures in, for instance the Resting Horseman are too well-dressed to be true peasants, who in the 1640s had been reduced to a very low level of existence. They probably represent the members of the bourgeoisie who had begun to buy land near the Le Nain brother's native town.