Het Oude Hof in De Haag en portret van Willem V, ca. 1754-1755 1754 - 1755

This engraving of Het Oude Hof in The Hague, along with a portrait of Willem V, was created by Ernst Ludwig Creite around 1754-1755 in the Netherlands. The image presents us with an opportunity to consider the relationship between the Dutch Royal family and the public. The Hague, the political center of the Dutch Republic, appears here as a backdrop to the comings and goings of the aristocratic elite. The artist presents the architecture of the Hof as an emblem of power. The scene is crowded with elegant carriages, suggesting a vibrant social scene. This idealizes the Royal Family as a lynchpin of cultural life, reflecting the values of the Dutch aristocracy at the time. To understand this image better, historians look at the political pamphlets and newspapers of the period, in order to find out about the social conditions that shaped artistic production, while questioning the public role of art. The goal is to show how cultural meaning is contingent on social and institutional context.