Plafondstuk met Apollo, Minerva en Mercurius en de personificaties van de vrije kunsten 1695

This ceiling piece with Apollo, Minerva, and Mercury, and the personifications of the free arts, was created by an anonymous artist. Works like these were common in the homes of wealthy merchants and the aristocracy, and reflect the values of the Dutch Golden Age. These were intended to display one's wealth and elevated cultural status. Here, we see classical figures such as Apollo, the god of music, poetry, and light; Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, and Mercury, the messenger of the gods, alongside allegorical representations of the liberal arts, like rhetoric and music. The piece embodies the cultural and intellectual aspirations of the time, referencing the classical world in order to legitimize a worldview in which commerce, science, and the arts flourished. In many ways the idea of cultural achievement through the arts remains with us today, though hopefully in a more egalitarian fashion.