Frontispiece Design for De wonderlyke reizen van Fernando Mendez Pinto c. 1652

This pen and brown ink with gray wash drawing was made by Pieter Jansz, as a frontispiece design for ‘The wondrous travels of Fernando Mendez Pinto’. At its heart, this image embodies the spirit of 17th-century Dutch colonialism. The female figure atop the globe is surrounded by weaponry, goods, and sailing ships, and flanked by two figures whose reactions seem to suggest the different perspectives one could have toward colonial expansion. The book it prefaces recounts the author’s travels through Asia, a region now open to Dutch traders. Jansz’s image reflects the cultural and economic context of the Dutch Golden Age, during which the Dutch East India Company expanded the republic’s global reach. It’s important to remember that an image like this was not just a neutral depiction of events, but actively promoted and legitimized Dutch expansionism. To truly understand Jansz’s work, we can consider resources that trace the history of Dutch colonialism. This helps us to explore the ways in which images both reflected and reinforced the social structures of their time.