Soldaten, gekleed volgens de mode van ca. 1580 1581

Abraham de Bruyn made this print, "Soldiers, Dressed According to the Fashion of ca. 1580," sometime in the late sixteenth century. The image presents a panorama of military figures, each meticulously adorned in the fashion of the time. Prints like these had a public role during the period of the Reformation in Northern Europe. Here, the artist uses visual codes and historical associations to elevate the status of the military, presenting them as fashionable and refined figures. The emphasis on clothing and appearance also says something about the culture of the time. These were the decades of the Northern Renaissance, a period of relative peace and growing wealth in the Low Countries. It suggests a society that was not just concerned with military power, but also with the finer things in life. To understand De Bruyn's world better, we could look to sources such as fashion plates and military histories. Ultimately, art reminds us that meaning is contingent on its social and institutional context.