Landscape with Two Fishermen alongside a Road c. 1682 - 1699

Abraham Rutgers made this landscape with pen in the Netherlands during the second half of the 17th century. It depicts two working-class men at leisure, fishing by the side of a rural waterway. Notice how the artist positioned his figures between the river and the road: nature and civilization. This arrangement offers a comment on the changing function of the Dutch landscape at this time. Rutgers lived in a period when the Netherlands was investing heavily in infrastructure. New systems of canals and roadways were implemented to encourage internal trade and connect distant populations. We can see here that the fishermen are far from isolated because the road connects them to a much larger social network. To understand the economic impact of these new transportation systems, historians might consult city archives and commercial records. By studying those sources in combination with images like this one, we can begin to understand how the 17th-century Dutch landscape was being transformed by political and economic forces.