Slapende baby in een wieg 1754 - 1825

Hermanus Numan created this print of a sleeping baby in a cradle sometime in the late 18th century. During this period, the Dutch Republic was undergoing significant social and political change, with growing class divisions. Numan, who positioned himself within the cultural elite, presents us with a serene image of domesticity. The baby, likely white and from a well-to-do family, is peacefully asleep in a woven basket. The basket itself speaks to labor and craft, yet the scene omits the hands that would have woven it, or the arms that would have rocked the cradle. Consider the absence of the mother, or the wet nurse, figures often central to childcare at this time. Instead, we are left with an idealized, perhaps sentimental view of infancy, one that reinforces the era’s social hierarchies by what it chooses to show, and equally, by what it leaves unseen. The print offers a glimpse into the private sphere, carefully constructed to convey innocence and tranquility, yet hinting at the societal structures that uphold it.