Staande ezel en vier liggende schapen c. 1668 - 1670

Curator: This is "Standing Donkey and Four Lying Sheep" by Johann Heinrich Roos, created around 1668-1670, an etching now housed at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It’s a pretty scene. The donkey seems to be watching over the sheep, creating a very pastoral mood. What can you tell me about the historical context? Curator: Considering Roos's period, ask yourself: What role did animals play in 17th-century Dutch society and art? It goes beyond mere aesthetics; it delves into socio-economic structures and cultural values. Livestock represented wealth, agricultural labor, and even national identity in a newly independent Netherlands. Roos’s work normalizes animal husbandry by showing them calmly and safely. How might we see this scene as an allegory for social order, particularly given the hierarchical positioning of the donkey and the sheep? Editor: So, you’re saying it’s more than just farm animals. That it might touch on wealth or even political order? Curator: Exactly. Think about genre paintings of the time; these seemingly simple scenes often carried messages about class, gender roles, and societal expectations. Roos might be subtly commenting on the stability and prosperity rooted in agricultural life or simply documenting daily life. Consider how often rural subjects are men tending animals or milk maids, not typically farm animals being unbothered under trees. What feelings might it evoke if we were seeing this as common in the Dutch countryside? Editor: It does make it seem like a commentary on tranquility and dependence. Like how one’s safety and survival relies on another’s servitude. Curator: Precisely! It prompts us to examine whose labor sustains whom and to what ends, while asking the question: Who exactly is benefitting from whom in this tableau of “peacefulness”? Editor: I’m beginning to see a deeper conversation embedded in the image, I appreciate this intersectional context. Thank you! Curator: It’s this kind of exploration that breathes life into these historical artworks and encourages relevant modern day considerations.