Illustration

The picture shows an illustration from De Lairesse’s ‘Groot schilderboek’ (Great Painting Book). He actually illustrates different ways in which glasses can be held in the context of his discourse on how to represent figures in painting appropriately, namely, according to their station — he specifically distinguishes between ‘people of fashion’ and ‘ordinary people.’ The accompanying engraving serves to demonstrate ‘different handlings of the same things in persons of different conditions.’