Minerva overwint de onwetendheid en de luiheid 1716 - 1761

Pieter Tanjé made this print, "Minerva overcomes Ignorance and Laziness," sometime in the mid-18th century. The image presents a clear allegory of knowledge overcoming the vices of ignorance and laziness, then understood as impediments to the progress of society. The goddess Minerva, symbol of wisdom, sits enthroned, spear in hand, while putti unveil a banner celebrating literary works. Below, books representing theology, history, and romance suggest a wide range of intellectual pursuits. The Netherlands, where Tanjé worked, was then a republic with strong traditions of civic humanism. For the Dutch elites, art and learning had a public role to play in cultivating virtue and building the common good. To truly understand this work, we can consult period books and pamphlets to reconstruct the values of the Dutch Republic and understand what was at stake in promoting the life of the mind. Art, after all, is never created in a vacuum but emerges from concrete social and institutional settings.