Family Audio Tour: The Cottage Girl

Room 47

Can you find Thomas Gainsborough (1727–1788), The Cottage Girl, 1785, in this room?

Listen to the audio

Continue on the tour

• You'll find the next painting, by Jan Steen, in Room 38.
• To get there, continue into Room 46 and go through the glass door.
• Walk down a few steps and go through another glass door that leads into another room painted red.
• Turn right and walk through rooms painted blue, until you reach Room 38. There you'll find Jan Steen's painting The Village School.
• Or, you can take another look at all the audio tracks and choose one you'd like to listen to next.

Transcript

Eoin:

This girl looks sad. I wonder why. Maybe it’s because she hasn’t got shoes – her feet must be cold – or because her clothes are old and worn.

[Wind blowing in the trees; sound of stream]

Girl:

That’s not why I’m sad. I’m sad because I’ve walked all the way from that cottage in the woods to fill this big heavy jug with water...

Eoin:

I can see the cottage, on the left, and the stream, in the corner on the right. 

Girl:

And when I got here, I dropped the jug and broke it. I’m going to be in trouble... 

Eoin:

But only the top is broken. You can still fill it with water.

[small bark]

Girl:

Hm, maybe. At least I’ve got my puppy with me to cheer me up.

Íde:

Ah Eoin, you’ve found the little cottage girl.

Eoin:

We were just chatti… Oh she’s gone quiet now that you’re here.

Íde:

This is a picture by an artist called Thomas Gainsborough, who was very famous for painting landscapes.

Eoin:

Pictures of nature you mean?

Íde:

Yes, but Gainsborough didn’t paint them outside. He’d make small models in his studio: he’d use broccoli for trees and mirrors for water and copy them in his pictures. 

Eoin:

Broccoli for trees?? [laughing] And who’s the little girl? 

Íde:

She’s someone the artist imagined: he didn’t tell us her story but gave us a few clues to help us guess.

Eoin:

Like the ragged clothes and bare feet? 

Íde:

And her sad face too. Maybe the artist wanted us to feel sorry for her and make us feel lucky about our own lives. 

Eoin:

Hm, but I am jealous of her puppy!

Íde:

Can you see that the artist painted the dog to look like the little girl? Small, sweet and a little bit sad? In pictures, pets are often painted to look a bit like their owners.

[sweet dog noise]

If you had to choose an animal to represent you [OR an animal that’s a bit like you], what would it be? Tell whoever you’re with.