Slag bij Dreux, derde treffen, 1562 1565 - 1573

Editor: Here we have Frans Hogenberg's engraving, "Slag bij Dreux, derde treffen, 1562", placing us somewhere between 1565 and 1573 when it was created. It’s at the Rijksmuseum, and frankly, it's chaos! There's just so much happening, so many tiny figures… It feels almost like looking at a map. What story do you think Hogenberg is trying to tell here? Curator: Ah, chaos organized! I see Hogenberg wrestling with perspective itself, like a painter grappling with the divine. It’s a bird's-eye view, yet intimately detailed. The soldiers are arranged as in a geometric garden, violence made elegant, horrifying beauty... What does that juxtaposition evoke for you? Editor: I guess it makes me think about how war is often glorified, turned into spectacle… the reality being so different. Curator: Exactly! He captures a pivotal moment of the French Wars of Religion, domestic conflict turned picturesque. It is Mannerist in style – an almost artificial harmony overlaying a bloody scene. And that windmill...a seemingly neutral bystander in a drama filled with complex motivations and stark moral quandaries, the turning point that may alter destinies. Do you see other symbols hidden within this organised confusion? Editor: I hadn’t noticed that before, but looking closer I do now. I’m noticing things I hadn’t on first viewing of it, details are starting to become clear Curator: It is that clarity emerging from chaos which resonates, something that rewards patient and meditative viewing. Editor: This was definitely a meditative journey and eye-opener. Thank you.