This painting probably dates to the late 1650s. It is a complex composition divided by a bold diagonal - part roof line, part shadow line - that separates sun from shade. The smith is glimpsed next to a roaring furnace inside the building, while two diminutive assistants (his children?) see to the customer. However, as with Peasants and a White Horse, it is the animal who steals the show: an ox, poised like a bulky ballerina at the barre.
