Ceres wordt gekroond door Fortuna (Lot) 1787 - 1833

Gerhard Ludwig Lahde made this print of ‘Ceres wordt gekroond door Fortuna’ with etching around the late 18th to early 19th century. This print presents us with a classical allegory: Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture, is crowned by Fortuna, the goddess of fortune and luck. This intertwining of themes speaks to the agrarian society of the time, reflecting a world where a good harvest depended as much on chance as it did on hard work. Prints like these circulated widely, informing public sentiment and aesthetic taste. Lahde, a German artist, was working within a broader European context where Neoclassicism was the prevailing style. As historians, we look at such images not just for their beauty but as artifacts embedded in a complex web of social and economic relations. Studying sources like agricultural reports, trade statistics, and even literature from the period, helps us to understand the values and beliefs of the people who made and consumed this image. The meaning of this print is thus contingent on its historical and institutional context.