Man met hoed en stok in landschap 1815 - 1867

Willem Matthias Jan van Dielen made this etching of a man with hat and stick in a landscape sometime in the first half of the 19th century. The Netherlands was at this time a constitutional monarchy, but still a society steeped in tradition. Etchings like these were made and sold as art, and they also served as illustrations in books and magazines. This particular image draws on artistic traditions going back to the Dutch Golden Age, when landscape and genre painting rose to prominence. Here we see a man who seems to be of the middle class, respectably dressed but out for a stroll in the countryside. The style of dress indicates that he probably belongs to the upper middle class or the gentry. Images like this are invaluable to historians as they provide visual information about social class, fashion, and leisure activities. Catalogues and inventories can help us to identify and interpret images like these.