De optocht der Cimbren over de Alpen 1782 - 1784

Engelbertus Matthias Engelberts created this drawing of the Cimbri crossing the Alps, sometime before his death in 1807. The print depicts an ancient migration of a Germanic tribe, but it also invites us to consider how eighteenth-century European artists looked to the past to frame their own world. The image draws on the conventions of history painting. It elevates the migration of a group, the Cimbri, into a momentous historical event. The cultural references tell us a lot about the period in which the artwork was made. The figures and the landscape are rendered in a way that recalls classical antiquity. By representing the Cimbri in this way, the artist invites viewers to draw parallels between the ancient world and his own time. This print can tell us about the artistic and intellectual culture of the 18th century. Art historians draw on a range of primary sources to build this picture, from artists' letters to treatises on aesthetics. Through this kind of research, we can understand how art is always rooted in its own time.