Karikatuur van een fluitspelende man 1620 - 1687

François Collignon made this print of a flute-playing man sometime in the 17th century. It's a small etching, just a few inches in either direction. The image is a caricature. The figure is dressed in fine clothing, but his features are exaggerated and grotesque. He seems to be prancing across a rural landscape, with a windmill in the background. Prints like these were often made in series. Satire was very popular in Dutch Golden Age culture. The Dutch Republic was a competitive society, and humor was a way of letting off steam. The fact that this print was made as a multiple also speaks to a burgeoning art market in the Netherlands. Prints were relatively cheap and easy to produce and collect, as compared to paintings. They were accessible to a wider range of people, outside of the upper classes. To understand art fully, we delve into the social and economic conditions of its creation. We examine a wide variety of sources, to see how it relates to the structures of its time.