Prijsuitreiking 1586

Peter Opel made this print, ‘Prijsuitreiking’, or ‘Award Ceremony’ sometime between 1570 and 1595. It shows an event not unlike a modern school sports day. We see awards being given, figures in procession, and various games and entertainments. Made in the Netherlands, the print’s existence tells us about the institutions that supported artistic production. Like many artists of his era, Opel relied on patronage from wealthy individuals or organizations, in this case to create prints, which were relatively cheap to produce, and could be distributed widely. The print also hints at the social function of sport and play. These are not simply leisure activities, they were part of the moral education of young people and were carefully structured according to prevailing ideas about social order and hierarchy. In understanding this work, we need to look at a range of historical documents to determine what such events might have meant to their contemporary audience. By doing so we can start to understand the complex relationship between social life and its representation in art.