Man zittend op een stoel, met een pijp in de mond 1790 - 1852

Pieter Christoffel Wonder created this drawing of a man sitting on a chair with a pipe in his mouth in the early 19th century. At this time, the Netherlands was undergoing significant social and political changes. The Dutch Republic had come to an end and the country was briefly incorporated into Napoleonic France. After Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, the Netherlands became a monarchy. Wonder's drawing can be contextualized by exploring the representation of the common man in Dutch art. How does this compare to the Dutch Masters of the Golden Age? The sitter here could be understood to represent a tradesman or a worker, identifiable through his clothing and relaxed posture, as the pipe would have been an ordinary item at the time. In trying to better understand art and social history, one might use resources such as historical archives, and studies of costume and material culture to better understand how the artist represents social identity.