Jan Claasz of de gewaande dienstmaagd: de liefdesverklaring van Reinier Adriaansz 1754

Pieter Tanjé created this print titled 'Jan Claasz of de gewaande dienstmaagd: de liefdesverklaring van Reinier Adriaansz' sometime in the mid-18th century. This print playfully stages social mores around courtship in the Netherlands. The scene depicts a well-dressed man, presumably Reinier Adriaansz, making a declaration of love to a woman. The woman, however, seems more aloof than enamored. Consider the setting: it's an interior, suggesting domesticity and the private nature of courtship, yet it's also carefully arranged. The presence of specific objects like the portrait, the window and the modest furniture point to the importance of status within Dutch society. Prints like this served as a form of social commentary, gently critiquing the rituals and expectations surrounding love and marriage. To understand the print more fully, we might explore the literature and popular culture of the time. These resources can help reveal the attitudes and anxieties surrounding courtship and social mobility in 18th-century Netherlands. Through them, we can understand the meaning that it held for its contemporary viewers.