Longhouse Farmstead with a Haystack in a Polder Landscape, Rembrandt van Rijn, c. 1652
pen and brown ink, with traces of white chalk, on brownish-grey cartridge paper, toned with light brown wash, h 97mm × w 209mm Catalogue entry
Next to a lopsided haystack Rembrandt sketched a ‘langhuisboerderij’ (‘longhouse-farmstead’). These farms contain a dwelling with a fireplace on one side, and a cow shed on the short side. They were made of wood and had thatched roofs, with a smoke hole in the roof ridge. These farms were typical of the area north of the IJ estuary, such as the Zaan region and the small villages in Holland on the Zuiderzee.
