Boer zittend op muurtje met pijp en kan bier 1613 - 1656

Cornelis Danckerts etched this image of a "Boer zittend op muurtje met pijp en kan bier" – or farmer sitting on a wall with pipe and beer jug – likely in the 1630s in the Netherlands. The print depicts a man of the countryside in a moment of leisure: smoking a pipe and with a beer jug by his side. However, a large knife or dagger prominently displayed at his waist suggests a sense of watchfulness, as does the overall formality of the composition. Is the artist offering a candid snapshot or a carefully constructed image playing to the tastes of the urban art market? To answer that question, we might ask whether this image is consistent with other portrayals of farmers in Dutch art of the period. Do those images similarly emphasize a sense of self-reliance or threat? The answers would depend on a close analysis of other such images, as well as a careful consideration of the print market in the Netherlands at that time.