Roker en drinker 1757

Georg Friedrich Schmidt made this print titled ‘Smoker and Drinker’ using engraving techniques. It shows two men indulging in tobacco and alcohol, and such imagery in 18th-century Europe offers a glimpse into the social life of the time. Made in Germany, this scene would have resonated with a society undergoing significant shifts in class structure and cultural values. The print hints at the growing accessibility of once-luxury items, like tobacco, to a broader populace, challenging the traditional aristocratic monopoly on leisure and pleasure. Schmidt's decision to depict such everyday activities also reflects a broader trend in art toward representing common life, diverging from purely historical or mythological subjects. By exploring archives and period documents, we can better understand the culture of leisure and consumption depicted here. The historian’s role is to interpret art as a reflection of its time, always contingent on the social and institutional context.