Heer omringd door herderinnen 1640

Crispijn van de Passe the Younger made this engraving, "Lord Surrounded by Shepherdesses," in the Netherlands, sometime in the early to mid-17th century. The print shows an elegantly dressed man receiving flowers from women posed as shepherdesses. It is a courtly love scene, but it also gestures towards the economic realities of the Dutch Republic at the time. The formal gardens in the background remind us that the Netherlands were becoming a major center of horticulture, a valuable sector in its growing economy. Flowers were luxury items traded at high prices. While this image seems to simply celebrate this growing industry, the historian might ask, what does it mean to represent industry through the traditional visual language of courtly love? We can explore this question by looking at documents about the horticultural trade and the culture of courtly love. What we learn might surprise us!