Threatened Swan
Asselyn, Jan
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Alternate file
Alternative Title
The Threatened Swan; Interpreted later as an Allegory on Johan de Witt
Date
1648-1652Description
Detail, swan's head; A swan fiercely defends its nest against a dog (the head is visible at lower left). In later centuries this scuffle was interpreted as a political allegory: the white swan was thought to symbolize the Dutch statesman Johan de Witt (assassinated in 1672) protecting the country from its enemies. This was the meaning attached to the painting when it became the very first acquisition to enter the Nationale Kunstgalerij (the forerunner of the Rijksmuseum) in 1880. Source: Rijksmuseum [website]; www.rijksmuseum.nl/en (accessed 6/22/2015)
Type of Work
painting (visual work)Subject
allegory, animal, Baroque, Seventeenth century
Rights
Rights Statement
Licensed for educational and research use by the MIT community only