Wandelaar bij een boerderij 1620

Claes Jansz. Visscher created this print, "Wandelaar bij een boerderij" – or "Wanderer by a Farm" – employing etching in the Netherlands during the 17th century. Here, the rural setting serves as both backdrop and narrative stage. Two figures, perhaps emblematic of laborers or travelers, are depicted beside the farm, their presence hinting at the itinerant nature of early modern life. The thatched roofs and rudimentary structures, typical of Dutch farmhouses, convey a sense of rustic simplicity. What interests me most is how Visscher uses the landscape to comment on the societal structures of his time. Farmsteads such as this were central to the economic and social hierarchies of the Dutch Golden Age. Visscher presents us with an idealized view, yet it prompts us to consider the lives of those who lived and worked in such places, and their relationship to the land. It evokes the daily realities of the working class.