Reading the News at the Weavers' Cottage, 1673, Pen and brown ink, watercolor, white heightening, traces of graphite; framing lines by the artist (? ) in brown ink and gold. , 9 5/8 x 7 15/16 in. (24. 4 x 20. 2 cm), Drawings, Adriaen van Ostade (Dutch, Haarlem 1610?1685 Haarlem), This scene of a man reading the news surrounded by family and friends within the sunlit confines of a weavers' cottage epitomizes the rustic scenes of peasant life for which Ostade is so well known. Linen weaving, a profession practiced only by men, became the most important and lucrative occupation in Haarlem in the seventeenth century