Gezicht op het Corvershof te Amsterdam, gezien richting de Binnen-Amstel 1723 - 1748

Jan Smit created this print of the Corvershof in Amsterdam sometime after his birth in 1663, showing us the building and its position on the Binnen-Amstel canal. Prints like this one were popular in the Dutch Golden Age and served to publicize the architecture of the city. But they also reveal elements of Amsterdam’s social structure. The Corvershof was originally built as an old men's almshouse, funded by a wealthy merchant family. The figures in the foreground are likely residents of the home, identifiable by their somber clothes. We can learn more about Dutch society by looking at sources such as period maps, city records, and genealogical information. These sources tell us more about the lives of those represented in the image and also the place of the Corvershof in the charitable institutions of the city. In this way, the image becomes a document for understanding Dutch social history.