Spotprent op de Leidse bakker Adriaan Trago, 1784 1784

Joannes Hulstkamp's 1784 print depicts Adriaan Trago, a baker, kneading dough before a blazing oven, while figures converse in the background. Note the baker’s turban, a symbol of exoticism, here used to mock and caricature. The turban is a complex symbol, historically associated with the East. It appears in Renaissance paintings to denote figures from the Orient, often carrying an air of mystery or otherness. Yet, here, its presence serves to ridicule Trago, associating him with foreign or ‘uncivilized’ traits to undermine his credibility. This points to the psychological dimension of such imagery: the collective fear of the ‘other’ is exploited to create a sense of superiority and reinforce social divisions. The turban, once a signifier of cultural exchange, is twisted into a tool of derision, revealing the cyclical nature of symbols and their capacity to be reborn with altered meanings.