Gezicht op Kasteel de Wildt bij Gendringen after 1745

This small watercolor depicting Gezicht op Kasteel de Wildt bij Gendringen was made by an anonymous artist. The painting shows us a modest country estate, complete with a small bridge over the moat. This would have been commissioned by the owner, either to record their property or to show it off to others. In the 18th century, it was increasingly common for middle-class merchants to acquire such rural properties, in order to consolidate their social status. The relative modesty of this dwelling speaks to the changing social structure of the Netherlands at this time. The identity of the artist is unknown, a state of affairs that reflects the importance of patronage in the art world of the time. Today, historians use estate records to reconstruct the identities and social positions of both patrons and artists. What can an image like this tell us about the patron and the artist?