A village by a river with peasants on a track in the foreground

Both the oblong format and the small scale suggest that the present picture once formed part of a series of topographical views of villages around The Hague, such as in the series by Jacob van der Croos of 1663 and 1666 in the Gemeentemuseum The Hague (H.U. Beck, Kýnstler um Jan van Goyen, 1991, p.118, n0300-A16, ill. and p.120, n0306-A22, ill.). Probably from the same series are the pictures listed by Beck, op.cit., 1991, pp.99/100 n0s 234/41, fig.5. The village has not been identified. It is probably in the surroundings of The Hague.
The attribution has been kindly confirmed by Dr. H.U. Beck on the basis of a photograph, in a letter dated 23 September 1998.