Kop van een meisje met een muts 1848 - 1888

This is a pencil drawing by Anton Mauve at the Rijksmuseum, portraying the head of a girl wearing a bonnet. Her gaze evokes a sense of quiet introspection, while the headdress symbolizes modesty. In Western art, the motif of the bonnet has journeyed through time, appearing in various forms from medieval devotional images to Vermeer’s paintings of domestic life. Through the Renaissance, the bonnet was used as a symbol to indicate marital status, which shifted during the Reformation to represent purity. The bonnet, as a symbol of modesty and privacy, touches upon a deeper psychological theme, where clothing becomes an extension of the self. It is a way of controlling the gaze and, by extension, protecting one's inner world from the outside. It has resurfaced, evolved, and taken on new meanings throughout history.