De Jeugd werd hier gesticht, door 't werk in tugtgehouwen, Gelyk men daaglijks ziet, van 't doopen af tot 't Trouwen 1791 - 1812

Editor: This is "De Jeugd werd hier gesticht..." a print, etching and engraving, created between 1791 and 1812. It's Dutch Golden Age and looks like narrative art. At first glance, it seems to show lots of little scenes from people's lives... maybe a lifespan? What sort of symbolic connections are at play here? Curator: This is an excellent question. Consider how cultural memory is structured through images. What does it mean to represent stages of life, "from baptism to marriage" as a series of enclosed images like this? It feels quite deterministic, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: I hadn't considered that! It's almost like each stage is preordained or at least, tightly controlled. Curator: Precisely. Think of the repetitive imagery - enclosed rooms, authority figures… The image seems to tell us that youth is being shaped, "tugtgehouwen," suggesting molding by discipline or confinement. Where do you see this repeated most strongly? Editor: I see it in all the educational scenes...the children sitting straight at desks, closely supervised. So, the symbol of youth isn't freedom or potential, but control? Curator: Exactly. And that echoes powerfully in how marriage is depicted too - as a culmination, a 'final scene', not necessarily a beginning. Look at where emphasis is given formally through line and shape, you may detect emphasis by its absence or presence. How might societal roles and gender expectations of the time be embedded in that? Editor: Wow, I see that now. It feels very different knowing what these symbols represent! Curator: Indeed. What was first taken as just "everyday life" can reveal constraints through iconography and offer social commentary. Editor: I definitely won’t see these kinds of prints the same way again. The power of symbols shaping our perception of reality is really quite stunning!