Bokaal met het opschrift: DER BURG'REN LIEFDE EN TROU IS'T VEILIGST SCHILT VOOR EEN/DIE VREDE EN VRIJHEIDT MINT EN BOOSHEIT DURFT VERTREE'N 1738

This engraved glass beaker, now in the Rijksmuseum, bears witness to the values cherished by Dutch citizens. The inscription, "The citizens' love and loyalty is the safest shield," is etched into the glass, celebrating civic virtue. Shields, allegorical figures, and mottos became powerful symbols of civic pride and identity in the Renaissance. These symbols find echoes in ancient Roman art, where emblems of the state were common. Consider, for instance, the Roman fasces, a bundle of rods symbolizing unity and strength. Here, though, the shield is not just a military object; it represents the collective strength derived from love and loyalty. We see such a transformation—from military to moral—mirrored in heraldic crests across Europe, where virtues are emblazoned alongside family symbols, speaking to the subconscious human need to visualize ideals. The image engages us on a subconscious level because it combines the rational with the symbolic, the concrete with the abstract, and the individual with the collective. Such symbols reappear in different contexts through time, shifting in meaning, yet always tapping into our deep-seated emotional and psychological responses to ideas of protection, belonging, and virtue.