Auf einem Schemel sitzendes Mädchen 

Cornelis Saftleven made this drawing of a girl on a stool, using graphite, in seventeenth-century Netherlands. It’s a fleeting glimpse of a person, yet its apparent artlessness speaks volumes about the social position of women and the poor in Dutch society. Saftleven was working at a time when the Dutch Republic was becoming a major economic power. The merchant class rose to prominence, but they were notoriously class-conscious. The social hierarchy was visible in art, which meticulously showed the class and status of the people depicted. This meant the poor and working class were often completely absent, or otherwise depicted in stereotypical and unflattering ways. Here, the girl’s downcast appearance, simple clothing and wooden shoes, all seem to emphasise her low status. As art historians, we can look at drawings like these, alongside paintings, prints, pamphlets, and even personal letters to try to piece together a clearer picture of how class was experienced and reproduced through images.