Seated Woman, in Profile to the Left, Wearing an Apron c. 1660

Cornelis Bega made this drawing of a seated woman with chalk on paper, likely in the Netherlands during the mid-17th century. Drawings of everyday life were very common in the Netherlands at this time, and women became a popular subject. This drawing, however, focuses on a subject in the working class. The woman’s apron and simple posture suggest that she is a domestic worker. Bega might be telling a story about the place of women in the Dutch class system. Alternatively, such an image might simply be intended to display the artist's ability to capture an accurate likeness. Either way, the drawing gives us a glimpse into Dutch society. To understand the social and institutional context of this artwork, we might consult archival records, such as census data, guild records, and other documents that shed light on the economic and social conditions of the time. Through that research, we can begin to interpret the meaning of such images in their own time.