Lezende vrouw met een hond 1650 - 1750

This mezzotint of an anonymous woman reading with a dog is currently located in the Rijksmuseum. Mezzotint emerged in 17th-century Netherlands, a time of rising literacy and evolving social norms. The printmaking technique allowed for rich tonal gradations, lending itself to intimate scenes like this. Here, we see a woman absorbed in a book, her dog resting quietly nearby. Reading was increasingly becoming a leisure activity, and images of women reading reflected changing gender roles. Was this woman part of the emerging middle class, with access to education and leisure time? Or is she perhaps a member of the aristocracy? The print itself, as a mass-produced object, also speaks to the democratization of art and knowledge in this period. By studying such images alongside archival sources like personal letters, literary texts, and economic records, we can gain a deeper understanding of the social and cultural meanings embedded within them. Art, like this mezzotint, becomes a window into a specific historical moment.