Inspired by the macht heimat! exhibition, the showcase exhibition in the Liberna Study Hall was dedicated to the charm of country life and provided insights into the tradition of Dutch landscape drawing and the rural genre studies typical of the Golden Age. Twenty-eight drawings communicate the beginnings of landscape art as an autonomous genre. For historical reasons, starting in 1609, with the end of Spanish rule and the establishment of the autonomous Republic of the Netherlands, Dutch artists began perceiving their native environment anew. The emerging national pride led to them reappraise the nature – as well as the rural population – surrounding them, and capture it in a commitment to their own, unmistakable land and its population. Precise study and realistically capturing what was seen “naer ‘t leven” (according to life) became the highest premise – through which landscape won its place as part of creation and was freed from its functional role in connection with painting.