Overval in het bos op een koets 1788

Reinier Vinkeles made this print, Overval in het bos op een koets, or Robbery in the Woods on a Carriage, sometime between 1741 and 1816 using etching. It’s a scene of chaos. A man with a sword stands in front of a carriage, while a woman cowers before him, hands raised in fright. In the background, another man is perched on a mound of dirt, gun smoking. A body lies prone on the ground. Prints like this one reflect the uneasy social conditions in the Dutch Republic in the 18th century. Though the Dutch Golden Age had brought wealth, the gap between rich and poor was widening, and highway robbery was a real concern. The print also speaks to the changing status of art and the artist. No longer commissioned by wealthy patrons alone, artists like Vinkeles now produced images for a broader public, catering to their interests and anxieties. If you want to explore this period further, look into the records of the artists’ guilds and the changing marketplace for art.