Rivierlandschap met een sluisje, een brug en enkele boten 1701 - 1759

This is Cornelis Pronk’s “River Landscape with a Sluice, a Bridge and Several Boats,” a pen and brown ink drawing. Pronk, who lived from 1691 to 1759, was working in a Dutch Republic that was already a major economic power. Notice how the scene feels both busy and calm. There’s activity – people in boats, someone crossing a bridge with their dog – and the architecture of daily life. Yet the muted palette and tranquil waters evoke a sense of stillness. The Dutch Golden Age was, in some ways, a golden age only for a few. The booming economy relied on a brutal system of colonialism and the labor of enslaved people. What does it mean to depict the serenity of the Dutch countryside, knowing what we know about the source of its wealth? Does this work celebrate or obscure that history? As you contemplate the scene before you, consider the complex layers of history, identity, and power interwoven within this seemingly simple landscape.