Rembrandt's wife Saskia, with pearls in her hair, bust 1634

This small etching captures Rembrandt’s wife, Saskia van Uylenburgh, around 1638. Her elaborate dress and pearls speak to the couple’s elevated social status in Amsterdam’s Golden Age. Rembrandt, though, was not born into wealth, so his success depended on attracting wealthy patrons, and appealing to the cultural values of the Dutch Republic. This print, then, can be understood in relation to the social and economic structures of the Dutch Republic, a place defined by trade, religious tolerance, and a rising merchant class. We see this in the way Saskia is dressed and posed. The pearls, lace, and carefully arranged hair all signal wealth and status but also a kind of conservative respectability. Saskia embodies the virtues of domesticity and wifely duty. It's worth remembering that institutions like the family and marriage had political significance in this period, and the ways they were represented was equally political. To understand this image better, we might look at period inventories, costume books, and marriage manuals. These sources help us understand not only how the Dutch represented themselves, but also what kinds of behaviors and values were being promoted.