Herders met vee doorwaden een beek 1638 - 1658

Cornelis Visscher created this etching, Herders met vee doorwaden een beek, sometime in the mid-17th century. Here we see a pastoral scene of herders guiding their livestock through a shallow stream, a scene common in Dutch Golden Age art. But what does this seemingly simple image tell us about the social and cultural context of the time? This etching reflects the Dutch Republic's economic prosperity and its citizens' growing interest in rural life, in part due to the growth of cities such as Amsterdam. The detailed rendering of the landscape, the animals, and the herders' clothing suggests a society that valued careful observation and documentation. The depiction of ordinary people engaged in everyday activities also speaks to a shift in artistic patronage, away from the church and aristocracy toward a rising merchant class. To understand this work better, we can look to period literature and economic records to find out more about the changing role of agriculture in the Dutch Republic, and the ways in which the lives of everyday people became subjects of artistic representation.