Gezicht op Kasteel Develstein 1820 - 1830

This anonymous print shows us the now-destroyed Develstein Castle in the Netherlands. The image speaks to the cultural obsession with country estates that developed as the Dutch Republic consolidated its economic power in the 17th and 18th centuries. Prints like this one helped promote a romantic vision of rural life. The clean lines and precise rendering indicate the rise of bourgeois values. The small figures in the foreground appear as though they are admiring private property rather than making use of communal land. This print would likely have been commissioned by, or for, the family who owned the castle. Visual culture became a key medium through which social elites could communicate their status. Research into the archives of the Develstein family might give us further insight into the social life of the castle, and how art played a part in it.