Portret van keizer Titus 1643 - 1680

Johann Friedrich Leonard created this print of Emperor Titus sometime in the 17th century. The print medium itself speaks to how images began to circulate more widely in European society during this period. Looking at this image, we should ask: what did the Roman Empire mean to Leonard and his contemporaries in the Dutch Republic? Titus wears a laurel wreath as a symbol of military victory and imperial power. Leonard has also depicted him in armor. These visual cues refer to an historical era, but what did that era represent for 17th century viewers? We know that European monarchs were very interested in associating themselves with the power and glory of Rome. What kind of symbolic work is this image doing? What political claims is it making, or challenging? To understand this print better, we might want to investigate the collecting habits of Dutch elites in this period, along with their political ideologies. The history of art gives us the means to consider artworks as products of specific social conditions.