Spotprent op de protesten tegen openbare lagere scholen, 1868 1867

In 1868, Johan Michaël Schmidt Crans created this print addressing debates around public education in the Netherlands. The artist situates us amidst a construction site where laborers and a clergyman stand before a building labeled 'Neutral School'. Here, Crans critiques the tensions between religious and secular education. The clergyman represents religious factions seeking to influence public schools. The laborers, presumably building the 'Neutral School,' are caught in this ideological struggle. The bricks at the bottom of the image are inscribed with the word 'Dordt', a reference to the Synod of Dort, an important event in the history of the Dutch Reformed Church, thus underscoring the religious underpinnings of the debate. The print highlights the complexities of negotiating religious identity within the public sphere. The artist seems to be asking, can true collaboration exist when underlying motives are self-serving? The print serves as a reminder of the ongoing negotiations between tradition and modernity, belief and reason, that continue to shape our societies.