Ontwerp voor illuminatie van een huis te Amsterdam, 1788 1788

This pen and ink wash drawing on paper was made by Hendrik G. van Raan in 1788, and shows a design for illuminating a house in Amsterdam. Look closely, and you’ll notice small dots and dashes evenly spread throughout the sketch, mimicking the look of candlelight. This was a time when the Dutch Republic was becoming more bourgeois, and the merchant class flaunted their wealth through extravagant displays. Festive home illuminations like this one, were a form of ostentatious consumption that served to advertise their status. The drawing itself would have taken considerable skill, but its primary value resides in its intended outcome: a built, decorated structure that would be temporarily erected, enjoyed, and then dismantled. Designs like this often fall between the cracks of art history. But in fact, they’re a valuable reminder of how ingenuity and craft can be invested in even the most ephemeral of projects, with the aim to impress and generate social value.