Boerin uit Parijs 1618

Claes Jansz Visscher made this print, called ‘Boerin uit Parijs’ or ‘Parisian peasant woman,’ sometime in the first half of the 17th century, most likely in the Netherlands. The print depicts a woman carrying a large bundle of sticks on her back. She is presented as ‘rustic’ which would have been a loaded term at the time. Prints like this circulated amongst a growing urban population, at a time when cities were expanding and rural life was becoming increasingly romanticized, but also othered. It's worth considering the social conditions that enabled its production. The Dutch Republic, with its booming economy, enabled specialization in printmaking. The art market and the institution of the museum played a key role in shaping artistic production at the time, making images like this both possible, and popular. To understand the image better, we might research the history of Dutch printmaking, the rise of urban centers, and the changing relationship between city and countryside. The meaning of this print is something contingent on its social and institutional context.