Zittende oude boerin after 1635

Frederick Bloemaert created this print of a seated old peasant woman, here in the Rijksmuseum collection. It's a piece defined by intricate lines and tonal contrasts achieved through hatching and cross-hatching. The composition is carefully structured, drawing the eye from the minute, gnarled details of the cliff face to the more open, gestural rendering of the woman’s form and expression. Bloemaert uses line to define not just shape but also texture, giving a tactile quality to the woven basket. The woman's form is weighty, the basket sits on her back, she seems to be pulled down by the weight of labour and age. The formal elements here act as signifiers of social identity, inviting us to consider how Bloemaert's technical choices are interwoven with cultural narratives about labor, age, and the rural poor in the Dutch Golden Age.