Dieren uit West-Indië 1682 - 1733

Romeyn de Hooghe produced this print of West Indian animals at the height of the Dutch colonial era. Its display here at the Rijksmuseum prompts us to ask - what public role did images such as these play in the Netherlands? The print creates meaning through a series of visual codes. It presents the West Indies, today known as the Caribbean, as an exotic, dangerous place, teeming with unfamiliar animals. What looks like a decorative panel in the center divides two distinct, if equally fantastical, ecosystems. On the left, we see seals, capybaras, and deer-like creatures in a vaguely familiar landscape, with a distant windmill. On the right, the scene becomes decidedly more menacing, with snakes, crocodiles, and a predatory cat dominating the scene. De Hooghe made this print during a period of intensive Dutch colonization and commerce. The image of the West Indies presented here likely served to encourage further exploration and economic exploitation. To fully understand the print, we might turn to period travelogues and commercial records. We can better understand the role of images such as these in promoting Dutch colonial ambitions.