Wandelend gezin 1778

Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki made this print, titled 'Wandelend gezin', in the late eighteenth century, using etching. The image presents a family strolling through a wooded area. This print offers a glimpse into the social ideals of the Enlightenment. The emphasis on family and nature reflects the era's values of domesticity and sensibility. But Chodowiecki wasn't simply reflecting society, he was also shaping it, feeding and influencing the public's perceptions of these values. The family is dressed in finery, yet they have chosen to engage in simple activity, which suggests a gentle critique of aristocratic excess and the promotion of bourgeois virtues. Prints such as these circulated widely and cheaply and helped to form a new kind of public opinion and taste. They were reproduced in periodicals, and also collected in albums. To understand the full impact of images like this, scholars look at publications from the period, letters, and diaries to find out how people reacted to them. What did they understand it to mean? How did it influence their behaviour? Ultimately, the meaning of art is always contingent on its social context.