Paard wordt gevoerd en afgeladen 1698

Georg Philipp Rugendas created this print, "Horse Being Fed and Loaded," in the late 17th or early 18th century. It offers a glimpse into the labor and lives of those who worked closely with animals in a pre-industrial world. Rugendas, who came from a family of artists, specialized in battle scenes and depictions of everyday life. Here, the humble act of caring for a horse is rendered with a kind of quiet dignity. You can almost feel the weight of the saddlebags and the weariness of the animal. This scene reminds us of the deep interdependence between humans and animals, and invites us to consider how labor, both human and animal, is often unseen or undervalued. The man in the image seems to be caught between the need to care for the animal and the pressures of his own work. The print also suggests the physical demands placed on both humans and animals in this period. By depicting this scene, Rugendas prompts us to think about the often-unacknowledged labor that sustains our societies.