Images of dutchness : popular visual culture, early cinema, and the emergence of a national cliché, 1800-1914

This colour woodblock print was produced by Utagawa Toyoharu (1735-1814) in Japan (Fig. I.1). The print is designed according to the laws of the central perspective and shows a city or town. On the canal or river in the foreground, figures sit in a rowboat; some of them fish while others take a bath in the seemingly shallow water. Stairs lead from the banks of the river or canal to the streets of the city. The landscape is hilly; the brick-built houses and towers are situated on the hill slopes; trees and bushes grow between the houses. Some towers have fans attached to them. The print’s title... Mehr ...