Vrouw in lompen 1803 - 1842

Anthonie Willem Hendrik Nolthenius de Man created this print of a woman in rags sometime in the first half of the 19th century. The image depicts a woman in ragged clothing, likely a beggar, with a walking stick and a bag, suggesting she is traveling or homeless. Prints like this one were popular in Europe in the 19th century as a means to document and disseminate images of everyday life, including the lives of the poor. The Netherlands, where the artist lived, experienced significant social and economic changes during this period, including industrialization and urbanization, which led to increased poverty and social inequality. Artists like de Man were part of a broader cultural trend of representing the lives of the lower classes, often with a mix of empathy and social critique. Prints like this one could be seen as a form of social commentary, highlighting the plight of the poor and marginalized. To understand this artwork, we would need to investigate the social and economic conditions of the Netherlands in the early 19th century, including policies related to poverty and social welfare, as well as artistic conventions for representing the poor.