Gelijkenis van het koninklijke bruiloftsfeest: de uitnodiging van de koning 1585 - 1643

This engraving, titled *Gelijkenis van het koninklijke bruiloftsfeest: de uitnodiging van de koning*, was created by an anonymous artist. It allegorically depicts a king whose dinner invite is refused. Here we see the king in his finery, standing within an elaborate interior, while outside commoners till the soil. The engraving likely comes from the Netherlands, given its presence in the Rijksmuseum, and the Latin inscription suggests a learned audience, tied to the institutional church. Its concern is with social hierarchy and the challenges to it. The artist here emphasizes the obligation of the lower classes to obey the higher, with the disgruntled king turning his attention away from those who snubbed his initial offer to the "turba coactavys," the forced crowd. Further research into the period's social and religious history would better reveal the artist’s position on class structure. Understanding the social context of the artwork helps us interpret its message, one of the many responsibilities of the historian.