A Monument Dedicated to Posterity in Commemoration of the Incredible Folly Transacted in the Year 1720 (Second Edition)
A Monument Dedicated to Posterity in Commemoration of the Incredible Folly Transacted in the Year 1720
Bernard Picart (French, 1673–1733), 1720, Etching and engravings
Bernard Picart’s famous caricature portrays the mobs that nightly descended on Amsterdam’s Kalverstraat, where trading occurred at cafés like Quincampoix. Fusing the documentary with the supernatural, Picart shows miscreants and share hagglers in the company of demons and divinities. Fortuna, hovering above her wheel, is joined by an overdressed Folly and a trumpeting Fame, spreader of marketplace gossip. Adapting familiar symbols, Picart also introduces new ones: the corporate personifications at center include an embodiment of the insurance industry (labeled “Assurance”). An international sensation, the print prompted a sequel.
: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs
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