The Concord of the State

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• isabelle Limousin, curator asked

  Dear Madam/Sir, dear Colleague,
  Would it be possible to get information about the topic of this sketch by Rembrandt?
  What is its topic?
  Why is it called The Concord of the State?
  Thank you very much in advance.
  With my best regards,
  isabelle Limousin

• Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

  Dear mrs. Limousin,
  
  The topic of this sketch is the concord of the state, as it says in the title. It is an allegory of accordance between the Dutch cities that are fighting against Spain. On the left side of the painting in the ‘Dutch Garden’ the coats of arms of the cities of Amsterdam, Leiden and Haarlem are shown. Rembrandt made an allegory of all the Dutch powers that are united against the Spanish enemy. Rembrandt made it in the time that the concord of the state was unstable and thus of important interest. By making this sketch, Rembrandt perhaps wanted to show the importance of keeping the concord of the state. However, the exact meaning and use of the sketch are unknown and highly debated. The title of the painting comes from the inventory of Rembrandt, which was made up in 1656, when he went bankrupt. In this inventory a painting is called de ‘eendragt van ‘t lant’ (which can be translated as The Concord of State) , which generally is accepted to be referring to the Rotterdam painting.
  
  Kind regards,
  Nina