Ferryboat

Victors has painted here a typical scene of rural life in a riverside village. The ferryboat carries a peasant and his cattle, so that the huge bulk of a cow stands uneasily in such a small and lightweight craft. The indifferent attitude of the peasant, who leans on the cow, sheep surrounding his feet, indicates that this trip is an everyday necessity. In another boat on the left-hand side a boy teases the ducks in the water’s shallows, much to the amusement of his companion. The painting contrasts the peasants with the horseman on the right-hand side. This man, probably a soldier, is fashionably dressed and groomed, and his horse looks strong and sleek. The peasants, in comparison, wear grubby and worn clothing and the cow looks thin and slightly ungainly. In the painting Victors depicts and contrasts two different aspects of contemporary Dutch society.