Gepersonifieerde VOC ontvangt geschenken 1730

Jan Caspar Philips created this print of the Personified Dutch East India Company, or VOC, receiving gifts in 1730 in Amsterdam. It offers a window into the complex relationship between the Netherlands and its colonial holdings. The image constructs meaning through loaded visual codes. The VOC, personified as a seated woman, is presented as a recipient of tribute from colonized peoples, framed within an exoticized landscape. A map prominently displays the territories under VOC control. The print's style reflects the artistic conventions of the time. Yet, it also serves as a form of propaganda, idealizing the Company's presence in the East. To understand this print more fully, we can consult the VOC's extensive archives, travel literature, and studies of Dutch colonialism. We begin to see how the image is contingent on a specific historical moment, one in which Dutch merchants sought to legitimize their global power through carefully crafted representations. This perspective underscores the public role of art and the politics of imagery.