3-035-407 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

A Ball Game Before a Country Palace, about 1614. Adriaen van de Venne captured the idle pleasures of courtship and leisure in this small painting. Lining a wide lane, an assortment of people watch a game of ball. To the left, a formal garden with flowers and sculptures is laid out in front of a large fantasy castle. In the left foreground, two lovers sit in shadow near an overturned lute and a pile of clothing discarded by the ballplayers. On the right is an enclosed forest area with goats and deer. This painting, which probably represents summer, is one of a series of four landscapes representing the seasons.