Hertog Filips van Anjou vertrekt uit Parijs om het koninkrijk Spanje op te eisen, 1701 1706 - 1720

Pieter Schenk created this print in 1701, depicting Philip of Anjou's departure from Paris to claim the Spanish throne. At the time, the identities of nations were deeply interwoven with dynastic power. Philip's claim to the Spanish throne was less about the will of the Spanish people and more about his lineage and the complex web of European royal families. This image, therefore, is a careful piece of propaganda, designed to emphasize the might and right of his ascendancy. Note the procession of carriages disappearing over the horizon. The image also speaks to issues of class and privilege. Philip's journey is made possible by the labor and resources of countless individuals, most of whom remain unseen and unacknowledged. The print invites us to reflect on how power is constructed, maintained, and visualized through such imagery.