End of Golden Age: Dutch museum bans term from exhibits

Title: End of Golden Age: Dutch museum bans term from exhibits
Author: Daniel Boffey
Media Outlet: The Guardian
Publish Date: Sept. 13, 2019

“One of the Netherlands’ most prestigious museums has fuelled fresh debate over the the country’s colonial past by deciding it will no longer use the term Golden Age to describe the 17th century when it was at its pinnacle as a military and trading power.

(…) Tom van der Molen, the curator of the 17th century at the museum, said: “The Golden Age occupies an important place in Western historiography that is strongly linked to national pride. But positive associations with the term such as prosperity, peace, opulence and innocence do not cover the charge of historical reality in this period. The term ignores the many negative sides of the 17th century such as poverty, war, forced labour and human trafficking.”