Nu ik mijn vijand heb gemaakt geheel confuis / Zoo stap ik onvermoeid / weer naar mijn boerenhuis c. 1822 - 1849

Editor: So, this is an engraving, “Nu ik mijn vijand heb gemaakt geheel confuis / Zoo stap ik onvermoeid / weer naar mijn boerenhuis,” made by Mindermann & Co. sometime between 1822 and 1849. It’s a pretty straightforward image of a rooster in a field, but there’s something almost…comical about its intensity. What do you make of it? Curator: Comical, yes, like a puffed-up politician after a particularly bruising debate! The verse above him basically translates to “Now that I have thoroughly confused my enemy, I stride tirelessly back to my farmhouse." There’s this knowing wink, isn’t there? He looks victorious, self-satisfied even. I wonder, who’s the "enemy" here? Editor: That's what I was wondering too. Is it a commentary on some social or political issue? Curator: Perhaps, or perhaps it’s more personal. Life was tough in those days, even making it through another day could be seen as defeating an enemy. It also strikes me that the landscape is rather secondary, a mere stage for our feathery protagonist. What does the landscape communicate to you? Editor: It feels… domestic. Simple farm life. So, maybe it *is* personal. A celebration of the simple life, of outsmarting the daily grind? Curator: Exactly! He's not just any rooster, he's *the* rooster who gets to come home, head held high. Makes you appreciate the small victories, doesn't it? Editor: Definitely. I came in thinking it was just a rooster picture, but now I see it as a little story, a small slice of 19th-century life and anxieties, told with a dash of humour. Thanks for sharing your insight. Curator: My pleasure! It's amazing how much narrative can be packed into a simple drawing, if we only pause to listen.