A Peasant Family (c.1640) Antione LeNain. This is an interesting piece in the LeNain oeuvre as it shows a posed family indoors wearing what I’ll call upper-class peasant wear. They have on leather shoes and colorful jackets, and look a little better fed than the typical LeNain peasant painting.

Comparing the clothing in the painting above with the “Peasant’s Meal.” (1642) found at the Louvre.

Here we see a barefoot man and child whereas the others look a little more comfortable. Perhaps the man and child have been invited into the tenant farmers house for a meal.

This brings us back to the original painting of discussion. Could it be a posed family portrait of reasonably well off land owners ?

According to the catalogue entry at the Louvre, the analysis of the painting in the 19th century was a religious interpretation where the body and blood of Christ is being shared. Most modern scholarship points to things being face vaule when it comes to the LeNain peasant paintings.