Het manuaal met commando 1806 - 1830

Curator: This print, titled "Het manuaal met commando," which translates to "The Manual with Command," dates from around 1806 to 1830. It was produced by H. Pens & Co. and we’re fortunate enough to have it here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It’s visually striking. It's almost like a storyboard for military drills. Each numbered frame presents a soldier in a different pose with a musket, rendered with simple, clear lines, though they seem quite stern. Curator: That’s exactly right. It's a training aid. What is most fascinating from my perspective, is how a print like this circulated publicly, educating and involving citizens in national defense strategies, thereby underscoring their patriotic duty. Editor: And you can see how that need is expressed visually. Beyond the military implications, there is something inherently hierarchical about rows and rows of repeated figures enacting what appears to be rigid instructions, like an order, a pattern almost. Are these images of conformity also symbolic for this time? Curator: Absolutely. The image resonates with contemporary power structures. Beyond simply reflecting it, it helps actively reinforce the order. By disseminating precise instruction to people who want to train to be good soldiers. We see how this work’s iconography served the state by providing citizens ways to imagine embodying civic duty and militaristic preparedness. Editor: Thinking about the way these instructions are laid out, even a child could have picked this up, made up a little story in their mind about the men being ordered around and easily grasped the cultural implications and the political order of this time. But it makes you wonder how children internalized these expectations through accessible public materials like this one? Curator: That’s where the historical impact lies, in normalizing practices through imagery and repetition, isn’t it? And from that perspective we might start to consider how children might respond to these same images in a very different political reality than our own. Editor: A perfect case study for examining the intersection of political messaging and daily life in the early 19th century. Curator: I concur! Hopefully we can all leave with something to consider here.