Hengelende man met voetjicht 1834 - 1835

Pieter Oosterhuis created this print called 'Hengelende man met voetjicht' - 'Fishing man with gout' - at an unknown date. In the 19th century, gout was often associated with wealth and overindulgence, so the image of a man too sick to fish in a traditional setting brings class and health anxieties into play. The image shows a man indoors, fishing into a washtub instead of a river or sea. He’s bundled up, his foot propped up and wrapped, suggesting he is suffering from the painful condition of gout. The fireplace indicates domesticity and perhaps an attempt to soothe his ailment with warmth. Is this an image about the indignity of illness, or a commentary on class and leisure? Is the fisherman a figure of fun, or of pathos? It is interesting how a picture can reveal so much about the culture and values of its time, and perhaps, by extension, our own.