The Threatened Swan — History & Facts
A swan fiercely defends its nest against a dog. 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 1800.
More Artworks by Jan Asselijn
The Breach of the Saint Anthony’s Dike near Amsterdam
Jan Asselijn
The Tiber River with the Ponte Molle at Sunset
Jan Asselijn
Peasants by a River Bank
Jan Asselijn
An Italianate River Landscape With Herders On A Path With Their Flock And Donkeys
Jan Asselijn
Italianate Landscape with Drovers, Cattle and Sheep beside Ruins
Jan Asselijn
Mountainous Landscape
Jan Asselijn
View of the Ponte Rotto in Rome, Seen from the East
Jan Asselijn
Landscape With Shepherds And Their Flock Crossing The Ponte Acquoria Near Tivoli
Jan Asselijn
Drovers with Cattle under an Arch of the Colosseum in Rome
Jan Asselijn
A Coastal Ruin in Italy
Jan Asselijn
