Rivierlandschap met hooiwagen op de voorgrond 1634 - 1686

Jacques Prou made this etching of a river landscape in France in the late 17th century. What can this image tell us about the culture in which it was made? The river is the focal point, but the people are tiny. Nature dominates. In the 17th century, Louis XIV consolidated power in the monarchy and nobility and created a highly centralized state. At the same time, French culture valued order, reason, and hierarchy in both society and art. The landscape in this print is not wild but tamed, with castles, mills, and other signs of human intervention. This shows an aristocratic ideal of country life. Historians can use images like this to study the relationship between social ideals and the lives of ordinary people. Prints like this were widely circulated. They shaped how people saw the world and their place in it.