De ruiter c. 1830

Paulus Lauters created this print titled 'De ruiter' whose date is unknown. It is currently held in the Rijksmuseum. Lauters lived and worked during a time of significant social change across Europe, with burgeoning industrialization, urbanization and their attendant class tensions. This print encapsulates many of these tensions, especially in relation to the perceived power of the aristocracy. Two figures sit on the wayside while a well-dressed man rides past on horseback. The contrast between the figures highlights the divide between the working class and the more privileged. Do these working class people resent the figure on horseback? Are they resigned to their fate? The cross in the background is a reminder of the role of religion in society, in particular how it often served to maintain the existing power structures. Lauters asks us to consider who is afforded mobility, who is not, and how those dynamics play out across the social landscape.