Buste van een zingende boer 1615 - 1665

This engraving, made by Coenraet Waumans, captures a singing farmer. The most striking symbol here is the hat, pulled low, obscuring the man's eyes. In this period, such a hat was a common marker of the working class, particularly those engaged in manual labor. But observe how the hat casts a shadow, literally and figuratively, over the man's face. This motif of obscured vision appears across centuries, from medieval depictions of veiled prophets to modern film noir. Each time, it speaks to hidden knowledge, uncertainty, or perhaps a deliberate blindness. The act of singing itself is a release, a channeling of inner emotion, and the obscured eyes suggest that the singer's true expression comes not from sight but from the depths of feeling. This image evokes the timeless tension between the seen and unseen, the conscious and unconscious. It taps into our collective memory, reminding us that what we hide—even from ourselves—can powerfully shape our expression. The singing farmer, veiled by his hat, becomes an emblem of humanity's complex inner life, a life that finds its voice in art across the ages.