Monnik met een vis en een zwaan Possibly 1670 - 1724

Jacob Gole created this engraving of a monk with a fish and a swan sometime between 1660 and 1737 in the Netherlands. It's a satirical take on monastic life. The image's humour relies on the contrast between the vows of poverty taken by monks and their actual lifestyle. We see a monk, traditionally associated with austerity, holding a fish and a swan, hardly the fare of the poor. The text below, "Le Delicat," further emphasizes this hypocrisy. The Dutch Republic was largely Calvinist at this time, a religion that greatly criticised the Catholic church; therefore, the image is most likely an anti-Catholic satire. To understand the cultural context fully, one might research the economic status of monasteries in the Dutch Republic at the time, as well as the prevailing attitudes towards religious institutions. Art history, in this way, becomes a tool for understanding social commentary and institutional critique.