Allegorie op de Alliantie met Frankrijk, 1795 1796

This engraving by Jeremias Snoek, circa 1795, allegorizes the alliance between France and the Batavian Republic. Central is the figure of Justice, seated and holding scales, her helmet evoking classical wisdom and warfare. Consider how Justice, often depicted blindfolded to ensure impartiality, here gazes openly. This shift reveals a conscious choice, a desire to portray a transparent alliance, yet the scales she holds have appeared for centuries, harking back to ancient Egyptian depictions of souls being weighed. Such imagery suggests a deeper, more primal concern with balance and moral reckoning. Justice is flanked by figures that include an allegorical representation of religion with a book. The putti frolicking at the base suggest a youthful exuberance, masking perhaps the underlying tensions of political unions. These cherubic figures, reminiscent of ancient Eros, hint at an emotional undercurrent, a subconscious yearning for harmony amidst political strategy. This union, like many before it, taps into a collective desire for stability, an age-old motif that will resurface time and again, each time molded by the anxieties and aspirations of its era.