Een jonge vrouw onder een boom 1650 - 1716

Cornelis Bloemaert created this print titled ‘A Young Woman Under a Tree’, date unknown, using engraving techniques. Notice how the composition is structured around contrasting textures and forms. The left side features open space and soft, undulating lines of a distant landscape, creating a sense of freedom. This is sharply contrasted with the density of the tree on the right, its gnarled trunk and branches rendered with tight, intricate lines. The figure of the woman, placed between these two poles, acts as a mediator. Her pose, one of quiet contemplation, draws our eye to the basket of fowl at her side, an element that introduces the theme of mortality and the cyclical nature of life. Bloemaert uses the formal elements to engage with philosophical ideas about nature, life, and human existence. The print invites us to consider our place within the broader structure of the natural world. The artwork remains an open field for interpretation.