This was not a place suited to the lofty perfection of the High Renaissance, nor even to the moralizing of contemporary Dutch genre painting.

Created from 1624 to 1625, while Rembrandt was living there, these early paintings fit into a tradition of northern European genre painting.

Often signing their efforts simply Le Nain, they elevated genre painting with dignified depictions of peasants usually seated, motionless, in landscapes or plain interiors.