Biddende figuren bij een kapel langs een weg c. 1825 - 1829

Andreas Schelfhout made this drawing in pen and brush with gray ink, and it currently resides in the Rijksmuseum. It depicts praying figures at a roadside chapel. Schelfhout lived through a time of great change, and his art reflects the intersection of traditional values and emerging social realities in the Netherlands. This scene of humble devotion would resonate deeply in a society where religious observance was a cornerstone of daily life. The prominence of the chapel along a well-traveled road also speaks volumes. The chapel would have been a social institution, providing a space for communal prayer and reaffirming shared values, as much as a place of personal contemplation. In understanding this work more fully, a historian might turn to local records, religious texts, and travel journals to shed light on the role of roadside chapels in Dutch society.