Laan met rijtuigen en wandelaars op Honselaarsdijk 1689 - 1702

Carel Allard created this print of the Honselaarsdijk estate near Delft in the Dutch Republic, sometime around the turn of the 18th century. It gives us a bird’s eye view of the long avenue leading up to the palace. The print offers insight into the social life of the Dutch elite, who stroll and ride along the tree-lined avenue, turning the grounds into a stage for social display. The estate itself was deeply embedded in Dutch political history, having been owned by the House of Orange-Nassau, the stadtholders who held significant power in the Republic. Looking at estate records, personal letters, and other period images can give us more understanding of the dynamics of class, power, and representation that Allard captures here. What we see in this image is contingent on the social and institutional contexts in which it was made.