Two Plough Horses, plate seven from Series of Horses 1651

Dirck Stoop created this print, Two Plough Horses, from a series in the 17th-century. Stoop was working in a Netherlands that had undergone a profound shift. The Dutch revolt against the Spanish crown in the 16th century created the Dutch Republic, a Protestant region which drew artists from across Europe. At the same time, large land reclamation projects were underway to provide more pasture. With its naturalistic depiction of these powerful animals, this image speaks to the growing importance of agriculture in Dutch society, and the pride with which that society viewed its own accomplishments. Images such as this can tell us about the changing nature of labor, of class and property relations, and of human relations with the natural world. To know more, one might want to study Dutch agricultural practices or land use in the 1600s. Understanding art means understanding its place in society.