A Herdswoman Seated Amongst Her Animals, with a Lamb in Her Arms 1690

Dirck van Bergen created this black chalk and gray wash drawing of a herdswoman and her animals in the Dutch Republic during its Golden Age. This was a period of unprecedented wealth for the mercantile class and a time of significant social change. While the Dutch Republic was primarily urban, landscape paintings that depicted rural scenes became popular among city dwellers who were far removed from country life. These landscapes weren’t just about pretty scenery. They also reflected on ideas about nationhood, prosperity, and the relationship between humans and nature. The farm animals in this scene would have signified wealth and economic productivity for the Dutch. But we might also ask, who actually owned the land and livestock, and who did the labor? Looking at the drawing today, our task as historians is to go beyond the surface and consider how it reflects the social, economic, and political realities of its time. Museum archives and historical studies of the period can give us valuable insight into the cultural meaning of art.