Jageres bij een man in wapenrusting 1667

Abraham Dircksz. Santvoort made this print, "Hunters by a man in armour," sometime in the mid-17th century. Consider the Netherlands at this time: the Dutch Golden Age, recently independent, was seeing an explosion of wealth and trade. But who gets to enjoy the spoils of such an age? Looking at this image, a man lies prone in armour, disarmed in what looks like a garden, while a hunter with a horse stands by. In the background is a statue, likely pagan in origin. What does the image say about power, class, or the role of the heroic in Dutch society? It could be a commentary on the nature of military virtue, perhaps even making fun of traditional heroic imagery. To better understand this, we might research Dutch emblem books and the artistic conventions they established. More broadly, an exploration of Dutch social structures could reveal the artist's intended audience and the kind of humour they would have appreciated. Art is not made in a vacuum.