Ontwerp voor decoraties op het gebouw Felix Meritis 1806

Jurriaan Andriessen made this design for decorations on the Felix Meritis building using pen, brush, and gray ink. The building, whose name means "Happy through Merit", was home to a society dedicated to the enlightenment ideals of reason, science, and the arts. It was built in Amsterdam, a city that had long been a center of intellectual and economic exchange. The building’s classical architecture, with its columns and dome, reflects the Enlightenment’s reverence for the achievements of antiquity. But in the late 18th century, classicism also stood for the revolutionary spirit that was overturning monarchies and aristocracies. We see this in the United States, and in France. Andriessen’s design promotes the idea of civic virtue through its architectural form. Research into the history of Felix Meritis, its members, and their activities, can help us to understand the social and intellectual context of this drawing. The meaning of art is contingent on its social and institutional context.