Drinkend vee bij een bron 1647 - 1674

Jan van Ossenbeeck made this etching, "Drinkend vee bij een bron," which translates to "Cattle Drinking at a Well," sometime in the mid-17th century. The scene depicts a communal watering hole, a social space for both animals and their handlers. Made in the Dutch Golden Age, a period of immense economic prosperity and cultural achievement for the Netherlands, the image reflects the era's fascination with landscape and genre scenes. Ossenbeeck, having traveled to Italy, may have been referencing classical architectural elements in the fountain's design, thereby associating Dutch prosperity with the legacy of earlier empires. The detailed rendering of everyday life – the animals drinking, people drawing water – speaks to the rising merchant class's interest in depictions of ordinary life as a reflection of their values and status. To fully understand this work, scholars might consult period travelogues, economic records, and social histories to understand the cultural values circulating at the time. Through such research, we can view this etching not merely as a picture of cattle, but as a window into the complex social structures of the Dutch Golden Age.