Amsterdam art: The Threatened Swan

 An art piece that stood out to me in Amsterdam was “The Threatened Swan” by Jan Asselijn. When I look at this painting, the thing that pops out the most is the Swan posture. I can tell that the Swan is in a fighting position by having its body open towards the audience. The body is  painted in a triangular shape which leads the audience's eyes towards the swan's head. The Swan is the main focus of the painting and people can tell because it is mostly taking up the whole frame. It’s like the Swan is trying to protect its environment from people.

To me, this painting is important culturally and historically to Amsterdam. Culturally, it shows how important art is to Amsterdam. Amsterdam wants to show that they are a cultural capital and the best way to show that is to have art be one of the main focuses in the city. This painting contributes to that. Historically, people think that the artist painted the goose to symbolize the Dutch statesman Joe de Witt. Like how the goose was protecting its territory, Witt was protecting the country from its enemies. This was to show that Witt will do anything to defend his country like how a goose would do anything if it feels defensive. This painting could represent how the Dutch can always feel protected in their country.

Like I said earlier, “The Threatened Swan” contributes to Amsterdam's status as being a cultural capital by showing what’s important to the city. The city wants to show their values and history to the public and the best way to show that is through art like paintings and sculptures. “The Threatened Swan” perfectly shows both. Art can bring people together to analyze and admire the piece. This painting also shows that Amsterdam has excellent painting that can strengthen their status as a cultural capital. Another thing this painting does is show some history in a symbolic way. Instead of painting a portrait or an important event to show what Witt contributed to Amsterdam, the artist instead painted a Swan to represent to show that Witt and the Swan have similar characteristics. That shows the creative way the artist paints and that also strengthens Amsterdam status as a cultural capital.