Heuvellandschap met een kasteel aan een rivier 1795

Abraham Delfos made this watercolor of a “Heuvellandschap met een kasteel aan een rivier” or, “Hilly landscape with a castle on a river,” probably in the late eighteenth century. The location is generalized: a picturesque scene to appeal to wealthy Dutch art buyers. Notice how the castle dominates the composition, a symbol of established power and wealth. But look at how that power is dependent on the labor of those in the foreground. They seem to be fishermen, farmers, and shepherds; they are the lifeblood of the local economy. The castle and its inhabitants rely on their continued industry. This image was made at a time when the Dutch Republic was beginning to decline economically and was on the verge of revolution. Was Delfos commenting on the uneasy relationship between the elites and the laboring classes? By researching the history of Dutch art, the political climate of the late 1700s, and the lives of artists like Delfos, we can understand how this image might reflect the complex social dynamics of its time.