Twee tortelduiven in een ring met een steen 1635 - 1694

Dirck de Bray created this image of two turtle doves in a ring with a stone using pen in gray ink, around the mid-17th century. The turtle doves, symbols of love and fidelity, are framed by a ring, suggesting betrothal or marriage. De Bray was working in Haarlem, a city within the Dutch Republic, during its Golden Age. This small drawing speaks to the values of the rising merchant class - family, stability, and domesticity. But it also reflects the visual culture of the time. The emblem book tradition, popular then, used symbolic images and mottoes to convey moral messages. This drawing likely functioned as a design for a ring, perhaps commissioned for a wedding, underscoring the intertwining of art, social rituals, and economic exchange. To understand the piece more fully, we might delve into marriage customs of the 17th-century Dutch Republic, examining legal documents, wedding portraits, and even jewelry-making guilds. Such interdisciplinary research reveals the complex social tapestry in which art is created and consumed.