Titelprent voor 'De rerum inventoribus' van Polydorus Vergilius en Alessandro Sardi 1671

This is Romeyn de Hooghe’s etching made as a title page for ‘De rerum inventoribus’ by Polydorus Vergilius and Alessandro Sardi. It’s a complex image, reflecting the 17th century Dutch Republic’s fascination with knowledge, discovery, and the classical world. Consider how De Hooghe layers scenes of labor and intellectual pursuit. Below the title, we see figures engaged in various activities, perhaps representing different fields of knowledge or stages of invention. It's hard not to notice the figures are all men. The laboring class are depicted at the bottom, with the ‘thinkers’ are on top; the philosophers and patrons of knowledge. The contrast of the idealized, almost allegorical figures at the top with the grittier, more realistic portrayal of labor at the bottom speaks to the social hierarchies inherent in the pursuit of knowledge. This piece both celebrates and subtly questions the structures of its time.