In Landscape with a Cottage and a Haybarn, the distant views on either side of the cottage juxtapose town and country, urban and rural life. In fact, three elements are being contrasted - a rich city on the left, a wealthy manor house on the right, and a humble rural dwelling in the centre. Although realistic, it is undoubtedly a work of Rembrandt's imagination, created in his studio from various motifs observed in the surrounding countryside. The town in the distance at left is Amsterdam, and most scholars agree that the building on the right are the ruins of main residence of the amusingly named Kostverloren estate, which Rembrandt was to draw on more than one occasion (see Benesch 1270).
In an essay on Rembrandt’s landscapes Cliff Ackley characterised the cottage as ‘an island, a central mass or hub around which open space circulates. The circular motion around the farm is emphasized by well-worn curving paths and drainage ditches as well as patterns of light and shadow… The landscape is enlivened by signs of human activity that slowly reveal themselves: two children fishing in the ditch, a figure accompanied by a dog crossing a bridge over it, figures dimly perceived at the window and door of the cottage, and a boat moored in the river before Kostverloren.’ (Ackley, 2003, p. 188-9)
This is a very fine early impression, in which Rembrandt's play with light and shade in the foreground is beautifully realised and the distant views across the plain at left and right are clear yet slightly hazy, as on a summer day.