Staande soldaat met zittende koffieverkoopster 1800 - 1841

Joannes Bemme made this print, "Standing soldier with sitting coffee vendor," in the Netherlands, sometime in the early 19th century. It's a hand-colored engraving. But it's the relationship between these figures that really tells a story. Here we see a member of the military elite speaking with a working class coffee vendor, who sits on an upturned container. The figure is framed within a landscape, but the artist’s focus is on the social dynamic. This image creates meaning through visual codes, cultural references, and historical associations. This artwork is a product of its time, commenting on the class structures in place in early 19th century Europe. To understand this image better we can look at similar prints and social histories of the time to shed light on the dynamic between soldiers and vendors during the period.