Thistle, Pumpkin and a Goat 1675

Lambert Doomer painted “Thistle, Pumpkin and a Goat” in oil paint. The collection of disparate objects in the foreground, a thistle, a pumpkin, and a goat, seem to invite some allegorical interpretation. Doomer painted this work in the Dutch Golden Age, when the newly independent Dutch Republic experienced an unprecedented boom in wealth, trade, and cultural achievement. The art market flourished with new secular patrons who had a taste for landscapes, portraits, and still life paintings like this one. These pastoral images created a sense of national identity and pride during this period of intense social and political change. Perhaps the thistle, pumpkin and goat point to the bounty of the land. We can study the ways Dutch artists represented themselves and their communities at this pivotal moment by examining records of the period and by delving into the history of Dutch nationalism. The meanings of art change as cultures change.