Op straat spelende jongens 1625 - 1673

Salvator Rosa made this sketch of boys playing in the street with pen and brown ink sometime in the 17th century. You can almost feel the artist’s hand at work here. The pen strokes vary in weight and direction, capturing the fleeting moment of children engrossed in play. Look closely, and you can see the different ways Rosa applied the ink – thin, scratchy lines for the background, and bolder, more confident strokes to define the figures themselves. Drawings like these were a crucial part of an artist’s practice at this time. Pen and ink were relatively inexpensive and easily available. This allowed artists to quickly jot down observations from life, experiment with composition, and develop their ideas. In that sense, this image is more than just a depiction of children at play, it's a record of artistic labor, skill, and the vital role of drawing in the creative process. It reminds us that even a seemingly simple sketch can reveal much about the artist’s world.