Maskerade van de Leidse studenten, 1870 (plaat 4)

Gerardus Johannes Bos created this print, Maskerade van de Leidse studenten, in 1870. It depicts Leiden students in costume. Consider the social function of this image, made in the Netherlands at a time when printmaking was widespread and affordable. It documents a student masquerade, an event that would have reinforced social bonds within the university. But what kind of statement were these students making by dressing in historic garb? The outfits seem to hark back to the Dutch Golden Age, a time of great economic and artistic flourishing, but one built on colonialism. This masquerade then, might reflect a conservative impulse to connect the present with a more glorious, if problematic, past. To truly understand this image, one would need to research student life in the Netherlands in the late 19th century, and examine the ways in which they saw their place in national history.