Lezende vrouw c. 1885 - 1911

Jozef Israëls sketched this image of a woman reading sometime during his lifetime, which stretched from 1824 to 1911. Israëls was a Jewish painter, and a leading figure of the Hague School. The image shows a woman absorbed in her reading; her attention focused entirely on the book in her hands. Israëls lived in a time when women's roles were being renegotiated. More women were gaining access to education and entering the public sphere, but they still faced significant social and cultural barriers. The act of reading, especially for women, was loaded with meaning. It could be seen as a form of empowerment, enabling women to access knowledge and ideas, but also as a form of transgression, challenging traditional gender roles and expectations. What does it mean for a woman to have access to the written word, to knowledge, to worlds beyond her immediate surroundings? What does her engagement with the text offer her, and what does it demand of her? Perhaps this sketch invites us to consider these questions and to reflect on the power and complexity of female literacy.