Cityscape with people at the former Franciscan monastery 1662

Esaias Boursse made this cityscape with people at the former Franciscan monastery using graphite. Painted during the Dutch Golden Age, Boursse’s work provides a glimpse into the era's shifting religious and social landscapes. Once a site of religious devotion, the former Franciscan monastery is now a secular space, populated by ordinary people going about their daily lives. Boursse situates us in the lives of the figures in this work. We see people from different walks of life interacting in this shared space, suggesting a society that, while still structured by class distinctions, allows for encounters and exchanges across social strata. Do you notice the figures wearing hats and carrying weapons? This simple addition denotes a different social status to the other figures in the work. This unassuming drawing encourages us to reflect on the complex interplay between institutional change and individual experience, and to consider how historical transformations are embodied in the everyday lives of ordinary people.