Zijn moeder, in de bijbel lezend 1790 - 1852

Pieter Christoffel Wonder made this watercolor on paper, called "His Mother, Reading the Bible," sometime before 1850. Look closely, and you’ll see the delicate handling of the watercolor, especially in rendering the woman’s weathered skin and the soft folds of her clothing. Wonder came from a family of house painters, which no doubt gave him an appreciation for the qualities of his materials. Yet he aspired to a higher calling: history painting. The intimate scale of this image and the subject matter – his own mother – may seem far removed from grand historical themes. But consider the Bible in her hands. This was a period of profound social change, of rising literacy and increasingly widespread access to the printed word. Wonder’s mother, absorbed in her reading, represents a quiet revolution. The means of production are not immediately apparent here, but the image speaks volumes about the democratization of knowledge and the important place of craft within this historical moment.