Kip met kuiken 1659

Albert Flamen made this etching of a hen and chick sometime in the 17th century. It’s a deceptively simple image, but it can open up some important questions about the social place of art in the Dutch Golden Age. The naturalism of this little scene – the fine detail in the hen’s feathers, the carefully observed landscape – reflects a wider cultural interest in the visible world. But who was this art made for, and what purpose did it serve? The rising merchant class of the Netherlands created a new art market beyond the patronage of the church or aristocracy. Prints like this, being relatively cheap to produce, circulated widely among this new audience. We can only speculate about why people chose to buy them: perhaps for scientific interest, perhaps for decoration, or perhaps simply for enjoyment. But, it is through careful archival research that we can understand more about the relationship between the image, the market, and the viewing public.