Dorf im Talkessel, im Vordergrund links ein Bauer mit Quersack 

Gerbrand van den Eeckhout made this drawing, Dorf im Talkessel, im Vordergrund links ein Bauer mit Quersack, using pen and brown ink with gray wash. Eeckhout was working in the Netherlands during its Golden Age, a period of tremendous economic growth and the expansion of the merchant class. Drawings like these, depicting rural scenes and peasant life, were in demand as wealthy merchants sought to decorate their homes with idealized images of the countryside. Note the lone farmer, barely visible, a small figure dwarfed by nature, already signaling a move away from the religious paintings of previous eras. These types of drawings catered to the taste of a new moneyed class who were eager to display their wealth, knowledge, and good taste. To fully understand the imagery in this drawing, scholars consult a wide array of sources, including estate inventories that document the collecting habits of Dutch merchants and auction records that show the prices they were willing to pay for such works.