Vrouw draait het spit 1722 - 1784

This is "Vrouw draait het spit," made by Simon Fokke, an etching with a composition split between dark and light, labor and leisure. On the left, a woman in a long dress is crouched, turning meat on a spit over a roaring fire. The scene is active, filled with the hatching lines suggesting smoke and the textures of a bustling kitchen. To the right, a man sits in a high-backed chair, facing the woman, with an ambiguous gesture. The dichotomy extends beyond mere activity. Fokke uses the graphic language of etching to create a semiotic structure. The woman, grounded and busy, embodies the earthiness of labor, while the man, elevated and gesturing, suggests a higher plane, perhaps of discourse or authority. The contrast invites us to question the underlying structures of 18th-century life. What does it say about labor, gender, and social roles? Consider how this scene, rendered in simple lines, invites endless interpretation.