Jongen rennend met een hoepel, van achteren Possibly 1651 - 1652

Harmen ter Borch drew this sketch of a boy with a hoop using pen and brown ink around 1651 in the Netherlands. It's a quick study, likely from life, capturing a fleeting moment of childhood. In the Dutch Golden Age, there was increasing interest in genre scenes depicting everyday life. This wasn't just about realism; it reflected a society grappling with new ideas about domesticity, leisure, and the role of the individual. Ter Borch, coming from a family of artists, would have been immersed in this changing cultural landscape. His choice to depict a simple scene of a boy at play, rather than a grand historical or religious subject, speaks to the evolving values of the time. The Rijksmuseum, as an institution dedicated to preserving and interpreting Dutch art, plays a crucial role in shaping our understanding of these historical shifts. To fully appreciate this sketch, one might delve into archival material about the Dutch Golden Age to explore contemporary attitudes towards childhood, family, and the rise of secular culture. Art is never created in a vacuum, and its meaning is always shaped by the context in which it emerges.