Schepen bij een steiger 1786

Gerrit Groenewegen made this print of ships by a jetty in the Netherlands in the late 18th or early 19th century. Groenewegen was working at a time of great change in the Netherlands. The Dutch Republic was in decline, and the country was facing increasing economic competition from other European powers. Dutch artists, like Groenewegen, turned to marine subjects, documenting the source of both the country's wealth and its geopolitical power. This etching employs visual codes familiar from Dutch Golden Age painting, but it does so in a self-consciously nostalgic way. Groenewegen seems to be asking whether the nation’s best days are behind it. As art historians, we can look at prints like this one, alongside other social and economic data, to better understand Dutch society. The Rijksmuseum's collection, along with period documents, offers valuable insights into the ways the Dutch understood themselves and their place in the world.