Portret van Govert van Slingelandt 1749 - 1796

Jacob Houbraken made this print of Govert van Slingelandt sometime in the 18th century in the Netherlands. It's a portrait of a man who was a city official in Dordrecht. We can understand this work as part of the Dutch tradition of civic portraiture, which served to solidify the status of the sitter within the community. The very act of commissioning and displaying a portrait served as a way for individuals to assert their identity and importance within the social and political landscape of the time. This imagery reinforced existing social norms. To understand this work better, we can study the history of the Dutch Republic, the role of Dordrecht in its political and economic life, and the conventions of portraiture in the period. It's through understanding the historical context that we can begin to understand how art serves specific interests in a given time and place.