Landschap met een beek en een jager 1605 - 1673

Lucas van Uden created this etching, "Landscape with a Brook and a Hunter," in the 17th-century Netherlands, a time when landscape art became increasingly popular. The scene depicts an idealized countryside, a common theme that reflected a growing sense of national identity and pride in the Dutch landscape. Notice the serene brook, lush trees, and distant cottages, all rendered with meticulous detail through etching. Van Uden subtly includes figures – a hunter and others with a cart – suggesting a harmony between humans and nature. This artwork also reflects the values of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of economic prosperity and cultural flourishing, even as it subtly acknowledges labor within the picturesque scene. Studying prints like these alongside estate records, economic surveys, and other archives helps us to understand the complex relationship between the land and the social structures of the time.