Gezicht op Huis Steenhoven c. 1662

Pieter Hendricksz. Schut created this print titled ‘Gezicht op Huis Steenhoven’ – or View of the House Steenhoven – sometime in the mid-17th century. Prints like this one were often commissioned by landowners to showcase their wealth, status and refined tastes. The house itself is presented in a straightforward manner, while the gardens are geometrically laid out, demonstrating control over nature. What stories are not told in this image? What are the costs of constructing and maintaining such estates? Consider how race, class, and gender intersect within the idyllic setting. Who were the gardeners and servants responsible for maintaining this landscape? What was their relationship to this space? This image speaks to the construction of identity and power in 17th-century Dutch society, reflecting the lives of a privileged class, while obscuring the labor and social inequalities that sustained it.