Vaandels, standaarden en pauken veroverd door de Nederlanders tijdens de oorlog, 1713 1914

Here is a copperplate print titled, "Vaandels, standaarden en pauken veroverd door de Nederlanders tijdens de oorlog", made around 1713 by Topografische Inrichting. Imagine sitting in a room, a kind of office maybe, and having to draw all these flags! And the drums! There must have been many artists involved, a team each assigned their own section. Look at all those patterns and shapes. You can imagine the weight of those flags, those victories, and those lives lost. I wonder what it was like for the artist making this print? Were they thinking about the war? Or were they just trying to get the pattern right on each flag? Did they worry about getting it wrong? It reminds me that artists have always found ways to respond to what's going on around them, often in indirect ways. Sometimes it's just about showing up and doing the work. And, as artists, we’re all in conversation with each other, across time and space.