Portret van Frederik Hendrik, prins van Oranje 1749

Pieter Tanjé made this print of Frederik Hendrik, Prince of Orange, sometime in the mid-18th century. Prints such as this one played a key role in shaping the historical memory of the Dutch Republic. Notice the visual cues: the armor, the laurel wreath, the books, and the cityscapes. All these lend gravitas to the image of Frederik Hendrik. The Prince, who died a century before this print was made, was here being presented as a military leader, a man of letters, and a patron of the arts. Tanjé made the print at a time when the stadtholder system was being challenged by calls for a more democratic government. How, then, did this image serve as a commentary on the politics of its own time? Was it a conservative attempt to shore up the power of the House of Orange by appealing to a glorious past? Or was it offering a progressive vision of enlightened leadership? To answer these questions, we can turn to the archives of the Rijksmuseum, as well as the print collections of other institutions, in order to better understand the image’s political meaning and institutional context.