An extensive bucolic landscape depicting a rural idyll with a stream, farmhouse and villagers. The artist, Pierre Vervou (1822-1913), is known for his busy little countryside scenes that often include several locals going about their day to day activities.

We particularly love the way that every figure here tells a story. In the foreground, you have two older ladies sitting by the stream as they natter about the day’s events - one seems to be using her hands to gesticulate as the other holds a stick.

While, on the bridge, a woman is standing and looking along the stream - perhaps taking a moment out on her way home from the market.

And in the distance, on the right-hand side, a mother and her child are walking along a well-worn track. The sun casts a long shadow behind them, which is cleverly rendered by the artist.

Pierre Vervou was born in Leuven, Belgium, and studied at the Académie de Louvain. The painting is signed in the lower left.