Interieur van het Spinhuis te Amsterdam 1664

This engraving by Jan Veenhuysen depicts the interior of the Spinhuis in Amsterdam. These “spin houses” were workhouses for women convicted of petty crimes, begging, or prostitution. In this image, dozens of women are seated in rows, working. An overseer stands at the left, watching them. On a platform at the back, there are more supervisors keeping watch over the incarcerated. The Spinhuis was intended as a place of correction and rehabilitation, but it also served to control and punish women who deviated from societal norms. In the 17th century, single women or those who didn't conform to expected roles were often viewed with suspicion, their behavior seen as a threat to social order. Veenhuysen's engraving offers a glimpse into a world of social control, where women were confined and forced to work. It leaves us to reflect on the complex intersections of gender, class, and power in the history of social institutions.