Drie mooiste dromen uit het leven van een vrouw 1839

Pieter van Loon made this drawing titled 'Three Most Beautiful Dreams in the Life of a Woman' using pen and brown ink, with brown wash, around 1829. The images show in the top left a cow pulling a plow, in the top right a man sitting on a bench, in the bottom left a peasant woman carrying a basket, and in the bottom right a rural landscape. The Rijksmuseum's record suggests the drawing depicts the three dreams: being wealthy, being married, and living in the countryside. But how are we to interpret the meaning of these dreams? And why are they specifically assigned to a woman? The drawing offers an opportunity to consider the social position of women in the Netherlands in the early 19th century, and the kind of lives they were expected to lead. Further insights could be gained by researching Dutch social and economic history of the period. What were the expectations of women at the time? How did class impact a woman’s life chances? How were gender roles enforced by institutions such as the church and the school? What did the burgeoning advertising industry tell women to desire?