Personificatie van de Herfst c. 1709

This small print, Personification of Autumn, of unknown date and maker, encapsulates eighteenth-century attitudes towards class and beauty. Here, Autumn is embodied by a young woman, perhaps a peasant, rendered through delicate lines and subtle shading. The framing text plays on the tension between her rural identity and idealized beauty. It praises her figure, eyes, nose, and skin, yet diminishes her beauty by calling her a ‘beauty of straw’ because of the hat. This engraving reflects a society deeply stratified by class, where even the most attractive woman from the working classes is ‘dimmed’ by her position. It invites us to consider how notions of beauty are constructed and policed along lines of class, and how they are used to reinforce social hierarchies. It is a reminder that beauty is never just about aesthetics; it's always intertwined with power.