De kerk, waag en vismarkt in Workum 1780

Jacobus Versteegen made this pen and brush drawing of the church, weigh house, and fish market in Workum around 1780. At this time, the Netherlands was a republic dominated by a merchant elite, a context which deeply influenced artistic production. Buildings such as the church and the weigh house, prominently depicted here, were essential to civic life, serving both spiritual and economic functions. Notice the figures populating the scene, frozen in their daily routines; their clothes tell us a little of their class. This drawing invites us to reflect on the relationship between a place and the people who inhabit it. What stories do these ordinary scenes tell us about the identities and values of this community? How might these representations reinforce or challenge existing social norms?