Jonkheid wild' gy speelen leeren / komt met Cupido verkeeren / Want hy wind van yder prys / Niemand die is hem te wys 1795 - 1819

This undated print made in Amsterdam by the printmakers Schalekamp and Van de Grampel depicts scenes of the Roman god Cupid engaged in various playful activities. The image creates meaning through visual codes tied to 17th-century Dutch culture, with Cupid, the god of love, symbolizing the follies and delights of youthful pursuits. The scenes draw on both classical mythology and the daily life of the Netherlands. This artwork critiques the emerging mercantile and social structure of the Dutch Golden Age. It playfully mocks the idea of love, or desire, as something to be mastered and commodified. It shows how this culture was self-consciously grappling with a changing sense of morality, in which 'Jonkheid' – youth – might be 'schooled' in the ways of Cupid. To understand this print more fully, we would need to delve into the publishing history of Schalekamp and Van de Grampel, looking into the kinds of popular imagery they produced. Ultimately, the meaning of this print is inseparable from its historical and institutional context.