XXXVII Daer hoort meer tom dans 1614

This is plate thirty-seven from Roemer Visscher’s emblem book, *Sinnepoppen*, published in the Netherlands, sometime around 1614. The image depicts a dancing shoe beside an exhausted figure lying prostrate on the ground. The accompanying text reads, “There is more to dance than shoes,” suggesting that one needs more than just the trappings of a thing to be able to do it well. Visscher’s emblem books belong to a larger 17th-century fashion for collections of images and texts offering moral and philosophical guidance. They were a popular means of circulating social and cultural values, functioning as a kind of early self-help literature. As art historians, we must recognize the institutional and social function of art. Resources such as historical archives and libraries can help us to further explore the ways art can be used to reflect, reinforce, and even challenge social norms.