Gladiatorgevecht met leeuw en olifant 1672

This print, made by an anonymous artist, depicts a gladiatorial fight with a lion and elephant, and is thought to represent ‘The Realm of the Great Mogul’. The scene is an intriguing glimpse into how the Dutch, in this period, imagined the East. The title, ‘The Realm of the Great Mogul’, immediately situates us within the context of the Mughal Empire, present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The artist probably never visited the area. Instead, they relied on second-hand accounts, sketches, and the prevailing stereotypes of the time. The print offers an interesting study in the cultural imagination of early modern Europe, in this case the Netherlands, and how it perceived and represented non-European cultures. It’s a reminder of the complex interplay between observation, imagination, and cultural bias that shapes our understanding of the world. Historians might look at travel narratives, colonial records, and other visual representations to understand its context more fully.