Landschaft, rechts eine große Felspartie mit dürren Bäumen 

Hendrick Mommers made this landscape drawing, likely in the mid-17th century, using pen and brown ink, with brown wash, on paper. Look closely, and you'll notice the interplay of line and tone. The artist has skillfully used the pen to define the contours of the rocks and trees, while the brown wash adds depth and volume, giving a sense of three-dimensionality to the scene. The layering of these simple materials and actions builds into a very convincing depiction of a natural scene. At the time, paper was becoming more readily available, yet mastery of drawing remained a specialized skill, closely guarded within artistic workshops and academies. Drawings like this were not simply preparatory sketches, but independent works of art, valued for their ability to capture the essence of the natural world. This detailed landscape would have been made to be sold, an increasingly common phenomenon as an open market for art began to develop in the Netherlands. Thinking about the conditions of production like these allows us to appreciate the labor and skill involved in creating an image like this, one small fragment of a changing world.