Mountainous River Landscape with Figures 1647 - 1670

Roelant Roghman created this drawing, Mountainous River Landscape with Figures, using pen and brown ink with gray wash in the mid-17th century. Roghman was born into a family of artists, and he most famously produced landscape scenes, prints, and drawings. During the Dutch Golden Age, Dutch artists constructed landscape art to promote their sense of national pride and identity. The dwarfed figures moving through the vista can be seen as a metaphor for the relationship between humanity and nature. This drawing provides insight into the cultural and social values of the time. While the image itself seems innocuous, these landscapes can act as a reflection on the relationship between humans and their surroundings and how national identity is constructed and celebrated through art. It reflects the artist's perspective on their place in the world.