Ruiter in een landschap c. 1780 - 1840

Carel Lodewijk Hansen made this etching of a horseman in a landscape sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century, and today it resides in the Rijksmuseum. The image is deceptively simple, but it reflects some important social changes going on in the Netherlands at the time. Dutch art had long been associated with urban life, but by the late 1700s, a new interest in nature was growing, especially among the upper classes. This etching captures that shift, depicting a gentleman on horseback enjoying the countryside. But it’s not just a celebration of nature. Notice how the horseman is positioned, almost as if he’s surveying the land. The image subtly reinforces the idea of land ownership and control, values that were important to the Dutch elite at that time. To understand this work fully, we can delve into Dutch social history, looking at estate records and travel journals to get a clearer picture of the relationship between landscape and power. Art is always part of a wider social and institutional context.