Duinlandschap met rustende herders en mannen die vlinders vangen 1764 - 1765

Abraham Delfos created this etching, "Dune Landscape with Resting Shepherds and Men Catching Butterflies," in the Netherlands. Delfos lived during the Dutch Golden Age, a period when the Netherlands was a center for trade, science, and the arts. In this small, busy landscape, we see the rise of a merchant class that has both the time and the money for leisure activities. In the foreground, shepherds rest, their sheep grazing peacefully, while in the distance, men chase butterflies, seemingly for sport. The image presents a vision of pastoral life, but one also inflected by class and labor. Who has the luxury to pursue such fleeting beauty, and who must tend to the more mundane but necessary tasks? Although seemingly bucolic, the etching captures the socio-economic transformations of its time, reflecting on labor, leisure, and the Dutch relationship to the natural world.