Landschap met een brouwerij 1615 - 1645

Esaias van de Velde created this etching titled 'Landscape with a Brewery'. The image is an intimate glimpse into the rural economies of 17th century Holland, a period marked by significant mercantile expansion and the rise of the Dutch middle class. Van de Velde, a key figure in Dutch landscape painting, often depicted scenes that reflected the everyday life and burgeoning industries of the time. But how do we reconcile the picturesque nature of this scene with the realities of labor? Note the figures in the foreground, are they consumers, enjoying the fruits of the brewery, or are they workers connected to this enterprise? The brewery, in its architectural solidity, also reminds us of the complex economic structures that shaped not only landscapes, but also the social hierarchies that played out within them. The work reflects the visual strategies through which the Dutch Golden Age defined itself and its values.