Herderin met kudde schapen 1735 - 1771

Jan Matthias Cok created this etching called "Herderin met kudde schapen", or "Shepherdess with a flock of sheep", in the 18th century. It presents a vision of rural life, filtered through the social norms of the time. It is easy to romanticize the pastoral, but during Cok's life the role of shepherd was associated with the working class. We might ask ourselves what realities are obscured by the supposed simplicity of this image. The labor involved in caring for livestock, the economic dependencies of rural life, and the social hierarchies that structured Dutch society. The solitary shepherdess, and the domestic tranquility, stand as a testament to the longings for an ideal life. It serves as a reminder of the complex interplay between representation and reality, between the lives we lead and the stories we tell about them.