Baumgruppe mit Hütten, Mann mit Frau, links Knabe 

Jacob van Ruisdael made this drawing of pen and brown ink with gray wash, depicting a "Baumgruppe mit Hütten, Mann mit Frau, links Knabe" (group of trees with cottages, man with woman, boy on the left). Ruisdael’s artistic career took place during the Dutch Golden Age, an era marked by tremendous economic prosperity, overseas trade, and the growth of a distinct Dutch identity. He produced landscapes at a time when the Protestant Reformation was reshaping artistic patronage, with artists like him increasingly catering to a middle-class market. Unlike his contemporaries, Ruisdael often imbued his landscapes with a sense of somber grandeur. In this drawing, we can see ordinary people within the landscape. The presence of people in the landscape invites us to consider the relationship between humanity and nature, the interplay between individual lives and the broader environment that shapes them. This emphasis suggests the role of family in a time of social and economic change. The drawing serves as a space where individual lives intersect with the larger context of landscape, culture, and history.