Jongen en oude vrouw met kaarsen 1646

Jakob Stahl made this print of a boy and old woman with candles sometime in the 17th century. The work captures a scene of quiet domesticity, but it also speaks to broader social and cultural values of the time. Notice the stark contrast between light and shadow, a technique known as chiaroscuro. This dramatic lighting highlights the faces and hands of the figures, drawing our attention to their expressions and gestures. The old woman carefully lights a candle, her face etched with wrinkles that speak to a life of hard labor and care. The boy looks on with a mixture of curiosity and respect. This image likely reflects the values of Dutch society at the time, which emphasized the importance of family, community, and the passing down of knowledge from one generation to the next. Prints like this, as they circulated in the Netherlands, helped to define ideas around home and morality. To fully understand the context of this artwork, we need to explore the economic and social conditions of the time. Art historians can dig into archival records, period literature, and other sources to better understand the world in which this image was created and consumed.