Mercy in Mercantile Times
Gabriel Metsu: Usurer with a Tearful Woman
My key takeaway from this chapter is the portrayal of lending and money as necessary evils. At the time this painting was created, it was the beginning of major international trade between colonies which resulted in such a reliance on money; people gambled heavily on the growth of lending and borrowing to exploit the trading system and either amass great wealth, or total losses. Although doing so posed a great threat, it seemed to be one of the few ways for people to escape poverty during the day, hence explaining why people would take the risk. It's interesting to note how the painter portrays lenders to be evil and greedy, only caring about and profiting themselves at the expense of others; yet despite reasons for borrowing and lending being more diverse in todays society, people still take the gamble and the results can sometimes be the same as before, they can "make it or break it".
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