Landschap met ruïne en herten 1868

Johannes Tavenraat made this washed pen drawing of a landscape with ruins and deer in the Netherlands sometime in the first half of the 19th century. The drawing represents nature as sublime and picturesque, with a ruined castle and a group of wild deer. While seemingly apolitical, this sort of image of the national landscape played an important role in the cultural construction of Dutch national identity in the 19th century. The Netherlands had been annexed by France in the Napoleonic era, and after 1815 the Dutch royal family sought to rebuild a sense of nationhood. Artists turned to the landscape as a symbol of native virtue. Old ruins evoked a glorious past, while images of local animals reinforced a sense of belonging to a specific place. Art historians consult exhibition catalogues and other primary documents to understand the social and institutional contexts in which artworks like this were produced and consumed.