Allegorie op de verkregen vrijheid van de Protestantse godsdienst in de Nederlanden in 1577 c. 1817

Joannes Bemme made this print, Allegory on the Freedom of the Protestant Religion, in the Netherlands. The scene depicts figures making their way to market, but this is no straightforward genre scene: it's an allegory. The image marks the moment in 1577 when Protestantism was allowed in the Netherlands. In the context of the Eighty Years' War, the struggle of the Dutch Republic to gain independence from Spain, this was a momentous occasion. In the 18th century, memories of these events were kept alive through institutional celebrations and visual representations such as this print. But what are the politics of this image? What does it tell us about how the Dutch Republic understood itself? Was it progressive or conservative? These are the kinds of questions that a historian of art might ask. Original documents, prints, and other images from the period can help us to understand this moment in history.