Ontwerp voor Almanakprent: Het Oude Jaar en Het Nieuwe Jaar 1836 - 1888

Carel Vosmaer created this design for an almanac print using pen and brush in the Netherlands sometime in the mid-19th century. Almanacs, like calendars, were an established part of Dutch print culture by this time. Vosmaer's print contrasts ‘The Old Year’ with ‘The New Year’. On the left, we see a dark, somber scene of seated figures by a fireplace; one looks to be reading from an open book. In contrast, on the right, a woman attends to a child under the watchful eye of an angel, all bathed in light. Dutch society in this period was undergoing significant transformations, with debates raging about industrialization, urbanization, and religious orthodoxy. Vosmaer’s piece invokes a sense of nostalgia for simpler, perhaps more pious times. The conservative rendering of domestic life and the angelic presence promote traditional values. To fully understand Vosmaer's image, one might explore the archives of Dutch printmakers and the historical records of Dutch social debates from this period. Art like this often reflects, but can also shape, the prevailing attitudes of its time.