Portret van de admiraal Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen 1781 - 1816

This is Reinier Vinkeles’s etching of Jan Hendrik van Kinsbergen, made in the Netherlands. This print, like other commemorative objects, helped to establish the Admiral as a figure of national pride. Look at the way Van Kinsbergen is presented. The stone tablet celebrates his title, and the objects beneath such as a canon allude to military might. The oval frame and curtain lend the image an air of nobility and permanence. How might prints like this have functioned in Dutch society? The production of such images involved a network of institutions, including the navy, the printing industry, and portraiture. To fully understand the image, we can research the social and political context in which it was made. We might look at the history of the Dutch navy, the role of portraiture in Dutch society, and the development of printmaking as a commercial enterprise. Together, these resources provide clues about the social life of this portrait.