Lente c. 1612 - 1652

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum, we're standing before "Lente," an engraving believed to have been created sometime between 1612 and 1652. Editor: My goodness, she looks like she's just stepped out of a dream! A somewhat serious dream, perhaps? There’s a captivating gravity to her gaze amidst all that elaborate floral detail. Curator: It's certainly an intriguing piece. You see "Lente," meaning Spring in Dutch represented by this elegant lady. As a portrait from the Northern Renaissance, the work acts almost like a signifier of changing seasons, life's persistent rhythm with roots in the allegorical representations favored at the time. Editor: Yes, that connection with the seasons... But I wonder if that serene surface disguises something else, perhaps an early form of caricature playing with gender norms. She’s strong, almost unsettlingly so in the light of idealized Renaissance women we tend to imagine. Do you think the artist was making a point, consciously or unconsciously, about women's roles, or maybe about the artifice inherent in portraying “spring”? Curator: An astute observation, really, especially if you look at it with an activist’s eye on societal roles! One might interpret the contrast between the fresh, blooming symbolism and her steadfast look as a tension between expected ideals and the realities of a woman's existence in that era. The detailed dress and pearl jewelry would represent affluence; does she passively enjoy this privilege? Editor: Right? I can almost feel her story, constrained by the framework of early modern expectations, in a way questioning her ornamental role... I keep coming back to the fact that this an unsigned work. The anonymity begs a question about whether the creator of the piece wanted to express themselves with fear for persecution. Curator: It adds yet another layer to the enigma! The fact that it is unsigned makes these dialogues about who created and whom she represents even more profound. What’s been truly special is unpacking just how much “Lente” continues to speak to us. Editor: Exactly. "Lente" gives me a new lens. Thank you for sharing!