The Village Fool

The small genre painting shows a rural scene with two boys in a lit foreground. The larger of the two is merely seen from the back and wears torn clothing. A tall hat releases a strand of blonde hair, the gray-yellow jacket is patched up and pants are missing altogether. Only a white, stained shirt covers the bareness of his body. His naked feet stand in worn shoes, too wide for his small feet. His strange appearance characterizes him as an outsider: the village fool. To the right a third boy answers nature’s call in the open. Ryckaert based his works on the tradition of Adriaen Brouwer, a painter of peasant and inn scenes. “The Village Fool” was part of a small collection of child portrayals, all set in the peasant milieu.