Gezicht op Ter Horne state en dorpsgezicht te Dronrijp 1786 - 1792

Carel Frederik Bendorp created this print of Ter Horne Estate and the village of Dronrijp. Here we see two distinct social worlds in the Dutch countryside. At the top, the Ter Horne estate represents wealth, power, and privilege. The estate’s inhabitants are depicted enjoying leisure activities, such as boating. Their lives are in stark contrast to those represented in the lower half, where laborers are engaged in what seems to be agricultural work near the village. The division between these two scenes underscores a rigid social hierarchy. While the estate owners profit, the villagers engage in labor. Bendorp invites us to consider the complex relationships between economic status, lived experience, and geographic space in the 18th-century Dutch Republic, prompting a reflection on how these dynamics continue to shape our world.