Herfst 1606

This is an anonymous print titled ‘Herfst’ or Autumn, whose dimensions are 70 by 40 millimetres, and it resides in the Rijksmuseum. The image depicts a figure of Autumn, identified by grapes and a wreath of vine leaves. The signs of the zodiac for Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius point to the months of autumn, but the artist does not merely portray a season. He taps into a much older tradition of allegorical representation and personification. The figure’s nudity also refers to classical antiquity, a cultural touchstone of the Dutch Golden Age. We can appreciate the artist’s skill in the rendering of tone and texture through engraving. But to fully understand the image, we must examine the classical tradition of allegorical representation, and the history of printmaking in the Netherlands. This kind of research will help us to understand the social and cultural context in which this compelling little image was made.