Nachtelijk overleg van aanvoerders 1694 - 1724

Jacob Andreas Fridrich created this print, "Nightly Consultation of Leaders," sometime in the first half of the 18th century using etching and engraving techniques. This aquatint presents a scene of authority figures, possibly military leaders, conferring under the cover of darkness. Prints like these were often produced in the Netherlands during the period of the Dutch East India Company. We can consider how the image engages with the Dutch Republic’s global trade networks, and how the print may be informed by colonial encounters and perceptions of non-European cultures. The ruins in the background lend the scene a kind of classical, historical, or perhaps even biblical gravitas. What does it mean to depict non-Europeans in a classical landscape? Art historians can examine costume books, travelogues, and other visual materials in archives to illuminate these complex cultural dynamics, and we can better appreciate how art reflects and shapes societal attitudes.