Bergachtig landschap met op de voorgrond drie figuren 1636 - 1687

Jacob Esselens made this landscape drawing with pen in the Netherlands in the mid-17th century. At this time, the Dutch Republic was expanding its international trade networks, and Dutch artists were developing new genres of painting like landscape and still life. This drawing shows a somewhat idealized landscape. Notice the minute details of the foliage on the slope, and the tiny buildings nestled in the side of the cliff. In the foreground, three figures appear to be talking. This is a common trope of Dutch landscape painting: the human presence is registered as small and transient in contrast to the grandeur of nature. To understand this drawing, one could research the development of landscape painting in the Netherlands and look at how the genre served the cultural and political project of nation-building.