Ruhender Mann bei zwei Eseln 

Editor: Here we have "Resting Man with Two Donkeys" by Philips Wouwerman, a red-chalk drawing housed here at the Städel Museum. The subdued palette and relaxed composition give it a sense of quietude. How would you interpret this work in its historical context? Curator: That sense of quietude is deceptive, I think. Wouwerman lived during the Dutch Golden Age, a period of immense economic and social upheaval. Consider the role of landscape in Dutch art at this time. Was it ever really *just* landscape? Editor: What do you mean? It seems to be about nature. Curator: Dutch landscapes were often infused with symbolism related to national identity, trade, and the complex social structures of the time. A seemingly simple scene like this could be a commentary on labor, leisure, or even the burgeoning merchant class. Who owned donkeys, and what did their care imply about economic status and rural versus urban life? Editor: So, even a "resting man" and his animals might represent something larger about the world they inhabited? Curator: Precisely. How the artist chose to portray them – their posture, their relationship to the land – becomes a political statement, even subtly so. Drawings like this were also commodities, collected and displayed to communicate social status, further complicating the art's public role. Editor: I never considered how something so seemingly serene could have these complex layers of meaning woven into it. Thank you. Curator: Indeed, art always reflects – and is reflected by – the socio-political realities of its time. The power of an image lies not only in its aesthetic appeal but also in its silent narratives.