Picturing the PastThe Young Scholar and His Wife A new genre of painting emerged in the seventeenth century celebrating the virtues of domestic life and family. It was particularly popular in the wealthy, urban Netherlands, among prosperous families such as the couple depicted here. (The Young Scholar and His Wife, 1640, oil on panel by Gonzales Coques [1614–84]/Gemaeldegalerie Alte Meister, Kassel, Germany/© Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel/The Bridgeman Art Library)ANALYZING THE IMAGE What social and cultural values does this painting seem to celebrate? What insight does the painter offer into masculine and feminine roles in this society? Why do you think the husband and wife are standing separately and not together, as they probably would in a modern family portrait?CONNECTIONS Based on your reading in this chapter, how might the portrait of a more typical European family of 1640 differ from this one? Why would a family in the Netherlands have a different lifestyle from many families in other European countries?