The Drawing Gallery of the Felix Meritis Society 1801

Adriaan de Lelie painted "The Drawing Gallery of the Felix Meritis Society" to depict the cultural and intellectual life of the Dutch Enlightenment. The Felix Meritis Society, founded in 1777, embodied the era's faith in reason and progress. In this canvas we see white, upper-class men gathered to sketch a nude male model. This scene raises questions about who had access to knowledge and artistic training during this period. Art academies were largely the domain of men, while women and people of color were excluded from these spaces. The male gaze is ever-present, as the model's body is objectified for study, perpetuating power dynamics within artistic practice. De Lelie's painting invites us to consider the politics embedded in representation, and to critically examine the historical structures that have shaped artistic canons. It’s a reminder that what we see in art reflects not just individual talent, but broader social and cultural forces at play.