Schepen op het IJ 1771

Willem Writs created this print, *Schepen op het IJ*, after a painting by Willem van de Velde. It depicts a view of Amsterdam filled with ships, reflecting the city's prominence as a maritime hub. It’s impossible to separate Amsterdam’s economic prosperity from the history of the Dutch East India Company and its role in the transatlantic slave trade. The ships here were vital to the city’s growth and global power, but they were also instruments in the exploitation and enslavement of countless individuals. This image invites us to reflect on how progress and prosperity were very often built on foundations of injustice. While viewing this work, consider its presence in the Rijksmuseum, an institution grappling with how to address the legacy of colonialism and slavery. It is in this context that *Schepen op het IJ* offers us an important lens through which to examine our own relationship with history.