# Diorama of Government Square in Paramaribo

- By: Gerrit Schouten (Paramaribo (stad), 1779–1839)
- Date: 1812
- Medium: paper, wood (plant material), paint (coating), glue, glass
- Classification: diorama
- Dimensions: height 68.5 cm x width 99.5 cm x depth 33 cm
- Museum: [Rijksmuseum](https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/collection/object/NG-412--31e9ec14b74628e69e44c20d3afb5a5e)
- Rights: [Public Domain Mark](http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/)
- Picture: https://iiif.micr.io/rFXNt/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Teens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

This is Government Square (now Independence Square) in Paramaribo in the years when Suriname was under British rule (1804-1816). On the path at the right is a woman carrying a child in her arms. Many enslaved women had to give up caring for their own families to feed and raise the slave owner’s children. Once they reached adulthood, these children in turn became the ‘owners’ of their former caretakers.