Flavius Vestasianus, from "Twelve Caesars on Horseback" 1560 - 1592

Abraham de Bruyn made this engraving of Flavius Vespasianus as part of his "Twelve Caesars on Horseback" series. De Bruyn was working in the Netherlands in the late 16th century, a region undergoing immense social and political upheaval. De Bruyn here revives the visual language of the Roman Empire, a period that later European rulers often looked back to. The series was made during the peak of the Renaissance, a period of ‘rebirth’ in Europe, when the art, literature, and philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome became popular again. The Caesars, as symbols of power and order, appealed to the elites in a time of great political uncertainty. The series would have been acquired by wealthy individuals interested in history, power, and the lessons that could be learned from the past. The role of the historian is to examine these cultural and social contexts, using resources like letters, diaries, and account books to understand the appeal and the function of images like this.