Figuren, beroepen en bezigheden 1822 - 1849

I.I. de Lanier produced this print titled 'Figures, Professions and Activities' sometime in the early modern period, using etching and possibly other techniques. Prints such as these held an important public role in their day. They acted as a form of popular media, circulating images and ideas to a broad audience. We can see this one was produced ‘in Amsterdam’, suggesting the importance of this city as a centre of cultural production and trade in images. It is interesting that Lanier chose to depict a range of different figures from different social classes doing different kinds of work. Consider how the image creates meaning through these visual codes and what the politics of this imagery might have been in its day. Was this image intended for a wealthy or a working-class audience? Was it progressive or conservative in its message? To understand the image better, historians might investigate the archival records of printmaking businesses and guilds in Amsterdam to better understand Lanier’s position in the field. The meaning of art is always contingent on social and institutional context.