Vinget genius med en sigte 1765 - 1833

Gerhard Ludvig Lahde, a Danish artist, created this print called "Winged Genius with a Sieve" sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. The winged figure recalls classical depictions of mythological beings and this reference to classical antiquity reflects the values of the art academy where Lahde trained. The sieve is an attribute of the virtue of discretion, the ability to sift information and keep secrets. This image speaks to the social role of art at the time it was made, and of the artist as an interpreter of classical and moral ideas. To understand the print more fully, we might research the iconography of the sieve or study the curriculum of the art academy at the time. Doing so will help us understand how the print reflects the social and institutional context in which it was made.