Rotterne 1845

Adolph Kittendorff created this print called "Rotterne" in Denmark, sometime in the 19th century. It depicts a still life of food being feasted on by rats. In the visual language of the time, the rat could represent the unsanitary conditions of urban life, or a more general sense of societal decay. Denmark in the 1800s was experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization, so the print might be a social commentary on the negative consequences of such progress. What kind of meaning can we draw from the image of a rat eating our food? Perhaps Kittendorff was critiquing the institutions of his time or highlighting the social problems that were often ignored or overlooked. To better understand the work, we can research the socio-economic conditions in Denmark during that period, studying urban planning documents, public health records, newspapers, and literary sources. Through this contextual investigation, we can start to see how art can serve as a critical mirror, reflecting and questioning the realities of its own time.