Autumn c. 1712 - 1713

Ignatius van Logteren carved this sandstone sculpture called "Autumn." Allegorical statues like this were popular in the Netherlands. Aristocratic patrons of the time understood them as part of a tradition of art that spoke to ideas of reason, order, and hierarchy. Placed in a garden, the statue would become part of a carefully designed landscape and extend the patron’s dominion over the natural world. This control and cultivation would have been viewed as a demonstration of their own good taste and refined natures. The statue's classical references were self-consciously conservative. Yet, at the same time, art and its institutions always offer up opportunities for reinvention. To understand the statue’s precise place in its culture, we can turn to sources like estate inventories, garden plans, and other records. These can reveal the ways that art was actually used and understood by patrons and viewers.