Venus fontein in de tuin van Paleis Het Loo c. 1700

This print by Jan van Call, made sometime in the late 17th century, depicts the Venus fountain in the gardens of Het Loo Palace. It offers a glimpse into the intersection of power, culture, and the visual arts in the Netherlands. The gardens, carefully laid out and populated with statuary, were an assertion of status by the ruling House of Orange. The fountain, with its classical imagery of Venus, embodies a self-conscious reference to ancient traditions of art and learning. Made for the wealthy, the fountain is shown in the print to be a spectacle for all, a shared public space. This image speaks to the social function of art in this period, and the ways in which art supported hierarchies of power, class and taste. To understand this work better, we can look at archival documents and other prints showing the arrangement of the Palace gardens, reading this print within the context of Dutch social history.