De zoon van den tuinman 1894 - 1959

This print, "The Gardener's Son" by Monogrammist G.J., presents a sequence of events narrating a romantic tale, likely made to be sold as popular entertainment. The images are a series of scenes depicting courtship, conflict, and resolution. We see figures dressed in what appears to be late 18th or early 19th-century attire, suggesting this was made in or referred back to that time. The artwork uses visual codes from this period to convey themes of love, social class, and military valor. The narrative touches on social structures and perhaps even critiques them through the lens of romance and adventure. Was it made for the rising middle class, interested in stories about social mobility? Was the artist commenting on the military institutions of the time? To fully understand this print, we’d need to investigate popular literature and visual culture from the Netherlands. By examining these references, we can better understand the artwork's commentary on the social and institutional context of its time.