The Family n.d.

Jan Georg van Vliet made this print, called "The Family," sometime in the early 17th century, using etching and engraving. Van Vliet was part of a generation of artists working in the Dutch Republic that focused on scenes of everyday life. Prints like this one provided images for a burgeoning middle class. But this image isn't simply a slice of life. The figures inhabit a space that's almost theatrical. In the Dutch Republic, the family was a key social unit, and images of families reinforced social norms and the prevailing ideas of domesticity. While there's nothing overtly political here, consider how artistic choices reflected and supported existing social structures. To understand this work fully, we can look to period literature, social histories, and records of artistic training. The meaning of art is always contingent on its specific social and institutional context.