The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Two Bohemian Peasants in Half-Length

c. 1600

Roelant Savery

(Flemish, 1576–1639)
Flanders
Pen and light- and dark-brown inks over preliminary drawing in black chalk; framing lines in pen and brown ink
Sheet: 15.1 x 18.8 cm (5 15/16 x 7 3/8 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1945.114
Location: Not on view

Description

These three drawings, which depict seated peasants at a market in the city and a team of horses led by a herder on horseback, are part of a group of approximately 80 observational drawings by Savery. His farmers, market vendors, and other everyday people are never posed and rarely glance at the viewer. Savery marked each drawing with detailed instructions regarding the colors to be used later and the words naer het leven (from the life). The works were made in Prague when Savery was employed at the court of the great patron and art collector Emperor Rudolf II, demonstrating that interest in peasant life extended even to the highest echelons of society.
  • ?-1931
    Oscar Huldschinsky, Berlin
    1931
    his sale, Paul Graupe, Berlin, November 3, 1931, no. 23
    c. 1931-?
    Karl Rudolf (?), Berlin
    ?-?
    David Birnbaum, New York
    1945
    with Knoedler & Co., New York
    1945-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Francis, Henry. "A Drawing by Pieter Bruegel the Elder." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 33, no. 4 (April 1946): 44-46. Reproduced: p. 44; Mentioned: p. 45 www.jstor.org
    De Tolnay, Charles. The Drawings of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, With a Critical Catalogue. London: A. Zwemmer, 1952. 84, no. 112 (as Bruegel)
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 585 archive.org
    Münz, Ludwig, and Luke Herrmann. Bruegel: the drawings. London: Phaidon, 1961. 223-224, no. 120 (as Bruegel)
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966. Reproduced: p. 105 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969. Reproduced: p. 105 archive.org
    Spicer, Joaneath Ann, “The ‘Naer Het Leven’ Drawings: By Pieter Bruegel or Roelandt Savery?” Master Drawings Vol. 8, No. 1 (Spring, 1970): pp. 3-30, 63-82. pp. 6, 15, 25; pl. 5
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    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 122 archive.org
    Spicer-Durham, Joaneath Ann. The Drawings of Roelandt Savery." PhD diss, Yale University, 1979. no. C 208
    Liess, Reinhard. "Die Kleinen Landschaften Pieter Bruegels D.A. Im Lichte Seines Gesamtwerks: 2. Teil." Kunsthistorisches Jahrbuch Graz / Institute Fur Kunstgeschichte 17 (1981): 35-150. 37-38, 47, 70, 87, 96-97, 103-05, 110 (as Bruegel)
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  • Tales of the City: Drawing in the Netherlands from Bosch to Bruegel. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (co-organizer) (October 9, 2022-January 8, 2023).
    Netherlandish Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 10-December 31, 1989).
    Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 9, 1967-January 1, 1968).
    Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-February 28, 1967).
    Prints and Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 6-September 9, 1965).
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    Old Master Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-31, 1964).
    Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963).
    Prints and Drawings by Pieter Bruegel. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (organizer) (March 23-May 7, 1961).
    Drawings from the Museum Collection: 15th-17th Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 18-October 11, 1960).
    Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).
  • {{cite web|title=Two Bohemian Peasants in Half-Length|url=false|author=Roelant Savery|year=c. 1600|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1945.114