Herinnering aan De Terugkomst Des Konings te 's Gravenhage, van de overstroomde plaatsen, den 9en Februarij 1861 1861

Gerardus Johannes Bos created this print to commemorate the return of the King to The Hague in 1861. The image displays the king’s return from the flooded areas, and we can consider it as a piece of political propaganda. Bos’s print uses visual codes to express the social and political values of the Netherlands at the time. Consider the grand architecture. The statue of the King on horseback reminds us of the power of the monarchy. This image was made in the wake of widespread flooding. In a moment of national crisis, the artist reminds the Dutch people of the strength of their institutions. It is self-consciously conservative, harkening back to an older, more stable time. To fully understand a piece like this, we historians need to consider the institutional context of its production. What was the artist commissioned to do? What political message was he trying to convey? What resources were available to him? The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.