Boom bij een beek Possibly 1630 - 1717

Anthonie Waterloo created this etching of a tree by a stream sometime in the 17th century. Images of nature were popular in the Netherlands at this time and were collected by middle-class citizens to decorate their homes. Waterloo was one of many artists who answered this demand. But this seemingly innocent image might tell us something about the changing relationship between the Dutch and their natural environment. The presence of humans is only subtly alluded to by the path on the lower left of the image. Could this be a comment on the increasing control of the Dutch over their landscape? As historians, we must study Dutch culture at the time this etching was made. We would need to examine how land was being used and controlled in order to fully understand this image. What does it tell us about the social conditions of artistic production in the 17th century?