Man verbindt zijn been 1789

Johannes Schoenmakers made this print, "Man verbindt zijn been", sometime around the late 18th century, capturing a genre scene of the Dutch working class. This was a time when the Netherlands was undergoing significant social and economic changes. The image depicts a man in a humble interior, tending to his leg. His rolled up sleeves and cap, the simple furnishings, and even the act of bandaging his own leg, speak to the everyday realities and resilience of working people. There's a sense of quiet dignity in his self-reliance, tending to what ails him as part of the grind of daily life. But there’s also a deeper story here about labor, class, and the body. In pre-industrial societies, a person’s physical well-being was directly tied to their ability to provide for themselves and their families. We are left wondering how this injury will impact his livelihood. Schoenmakers elevates this anonymous man, giving us pause to consider the value and vulnerability of a life dependent on physical labor.