Standing Old Man in Frontal View Leaning On a Staff 1600 - 1700

This drawing of a Standing Old Man Leaning On a Staff was made using pen and brown ink with brown wash, by an anonymous artist. The image speaks to a northern European interest in the lives of ordinary people. The figure’s posture is humble, his clothes are simple, and his staff suggests a life of labor. But it's the anonymity of the artist and subject that stands out. In earlier times, art celebrated kings and clergy. But increasingly during the Renaissance, the rising merchant class gained visibility through portraiture, in part made possible by new institutions that promoted and displayed art. This drawing may have been one of many images of working-class people produced in the 16th century. It is a social artifact as much as a work of art. To understand this work more deeply, a historian might research the cultural and economic conditions of the time, consulting archives, period literature, and other visual sources. Such work helps us understand art as embedded in social and institutional contexts.