Cartouche met gezicht op antieke tempel 1732

Jan Caspar Philips created this print, “Cartouche met gezicht op antieke tempel,” in the 18th century, a time of exploration and colonialism. It reflects the era's fascination with both classical antiquity and the contemporary world, deeply intertwined with the expansion of European power. The allegorical figures surrounding the globe illustrate a world being unveiled and mapped, which speaks to the then-burgeoning fields of geography and anthropology, sciences that were often used to justify and administer colonial projects. The figures, with their diverse clothing, point to the concept of a world of "peoples," framed through a European lens. The image of an antique temple in the background, juxtaposed with the globe, creates a dialogue between the past and the present, suggesting a lineage of knowledge and power. This positioning can be seen as more than an objective rendering of the world; it's a statement about cultural dominance and the gaze through which the world is understood and represented.