Dorpsgezicht met kerk te Monster 1731

Abraham de Haen II made this pen and brush drawing of a village scene in the Netherlands, sometime in the first half of the 18th century. Its subject is the church and other buildings in the village of Monster. The Dutch Republic was in its Golden Age at this time, although it was starting to wane. Pictures of churches and villages were popular. These kinds of scenes were commissioned by the rising middle classes. In the Protestant Netherlands, the church was not as powerful as it had been in previous times. You can see how this is reflected in the image, as the church is presented as part of the village, rather than separate from it. The art market was controlled by guilds, and artists gained status and power by becoming masters in the guilds. Art historians look at drawings like this to learn about the cultural values of the time. We can discover what people liked to look at and what they valued in their society.