Maskerade door studenten van de Leidse Hogeschool, 1840 (plaat 9) 1840

Curator: Right, let’s immerse ourselves in this drawing by Jacobus Ludovicus Cornet, shall we? It’s called "Maskerade door studenten van de Leidse Hogeschool, 1840 (plaat 9)," or "Masquerade by Students of Leiden University, 1840, plate 9" and the materials consist of pencil and pen on paper. What catches your eye first? Editor: Honestly, the ghostly pallor of it. There's such a high key and very little shading; it looks almost like a photograph bleached by the sun. There’s something vaguely unsettling about it. Curator: Yes! Bleached… but theatrical! It’s a masquerade after all. We’re looking at students from Leiden University participating in some kind of historical re-enactment or parade. The costumes seem rather meticulously researched for the period, don't they? Editor: Absolutely. The artist has put a great deal of work into conveying accurate details of armour and heraldry and dress… all those fanciful plumes. The clothing really screams wealth and nobility, which leads me to ask what this means. Given that they're university students, this begs questions of social class, of power... and perhaps even a critique, subtle though it may be? Curator: That’s a tantalizing possibility. These students clearly have the resources, and perhaps the inclination, to appropriate the trappings of a bygone era. And think about the context. 1840! Europe’s simmering with revolutionary fervor! Could this masquerade be a form of social commentary, a cheeky jab at aristocratic pretensions? Or just harmless fun? Editor: I think we should at least acknowledge this moment, however harmless the intent behind the production of it might be. There is something about the use of costume which raises important questions for students today. What does it mean to take on this past so completely, so publicly? This question may not have been fully realised at the time of production, but what conversations could this artwork start if we pose this to our contemporary audiences? Curator: Hmmm… Yes, good point. I wonder what Cornet himself thought of it all. Was he merely documenting a spectacle, or did he have his own reservations about the performance? He seems to capture something rather enigmatic and even…fragile. Perhaps because this 'historical' display reveals an act of fabrication or artifice, not some pure embodiment of the past. Editor: Which means, of course, we can also ponder the nature of historical re-enactment itself. Who gets to tell the story? Whose narratives are amplified, and whose are silenced? What purpose does this spectacle serve in its own time and how can it inform us about contemporary displays of power, in a Foucauldian sense? Curator: So, it’s a simple masquerade…with some weighty implications that were realised, or perhaps yet-to-be-realised. Perhaps it’s not as bleached of meaning as we thought! Editor: Indeed! Let’s leave our listeners with that conundrum to consider as they move onward. Thanks for your insights.