In the United States during the First World War, an assortment of fine artists, commercial illustrators, government-funded propagandists, and other professional image-makers devoted their talents to picturing and prosecuting the war abroad. Among these were acclaimed artists such as George Bellows, Childe Hassam, John Singer Sargent, and Paul Strand. Also engaged in visual commentary on the war were scores of poster designers whose names were far less recognizable but whose imagery was far more widely seen. Art that was meant to inspire enlistment and bolster morale—or, in some cases, buck the tide and resist militarization—became an essential aspect of total war in the new age of mechanical reproduction and modern mass communication.

The third chapter studies the religious, scientific and artistic dialogue between the Dutch Republic and the various civilisations with which it engaged through its overseas empire. After discussing some sporadic instances of religious dialogue through the relatively feeble Dutch missionary effort, it is shown how the Japanese mirrored European orientalism by using their own version of Dutch science to emancipate themselves from Chinese and other more traditional worldviews. Another rare but fascinating case of cross-cultural dialogue is provided by Dutch painters who were able to connect the Dutch Republic to the imperial courts of Iran and India in catering for a common appreciation of naturalism.