Wooded Landscape with a Reading Hermit 

Tobias Verhaecht created this pen and brown ink drawing, "Wooded Landscape with a Reading Hermit," sometime between the late 16th and early 17th centuries. This type of landscape was very popular in Northern Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, at this time. The image conjures a sense of spiritual retreat from society into the natural world. We see this in the figure of the hermit, who has built a small shelter for himself in the woods, and now spends his time reading. But it is important to consider how the fashion for such images gained traction in the context of increasing urbanization in the Netherlands, and the rise of a wealthy merchant class who could afford to buy and display these images. What can their popularity tell us about the social function of art, and the tastes of those who consumed it? These are the kinds of questions we can ask, drawing on social and economic history, to understand how art is shaped by the society in which it is produced.