Landskab med ruiner 1645

Jan van Noordt made this small etching of a ruined landscape sometime in the mid-17th century. It’s a familiar scene in Dutch art of the period, where the ruins of classical antiquity serve as a backdrop for everyday life. But it’s worth remembering the particularity of this trope. This wasn’t Italy: Dutch artists didn’t grow up surrounded by classical ruins. Instead, these images of the past served a distinct cultural function, reminding viewers of the transience of earthly power, and the vanity of human wishes. The fashion for ruins coincided with the rise of the Dutch Republic and the decline of Spanish power in the Netherlands. We might see these images as quiet assertions of Dutch cultural identity, a pointed reminder that all empires eventually crumble. To further understand the complex cultural references in this image, we might consult contemporary emblem books, travel accounts, and histories. It’s in those sources that we can better understand the politics of imagery.