The Fishermen 

"The Fishermen" is an etching made by Herman van Swanevelt, a Dutch artist working in the 17th century. Swanevelt spent a significant portion of his career in Italy. There he absorbed the Italianate style of landscape painting which became popular among Northern European artists. Notice how the fishermen, dwarfed by the immensity of the natural world, are romanticized figures within this scene. Consider the social hierarchy embedded in landscape art during this period. While these idealized scenes might evoke a sense of harmony, they often obscure the realities of labor and the class divisions of the time. Swanevelt presents a vision of rural life that maintains traditional representations of nature as a place of serenity. Landscape art offers an escape from the growing urban centers. It provides a means of negotiating cultural identity and one’s place in the world.