Vignet met vrouw omringd door mannen 1754 - 1758

Curator: This is "Vignet met vrouw omringd door mannen" from the period of 1754 to 1758, by Jean Jacques Flipart. It is an engraving and it's currently held here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It has a feeling, doesn’t it? A sort of delicate theatricality…as if we have interrupted a very intricate scene unfolding on stage. Curator: Well, these sorts of genre scenes often captured social rituals, so in that way it almost *is* a staged affair. The engraving technique used creates so much intricate detail despite being on paper. You can really study the textures and embellishments of each costume, can't you? Editor: Absolutely. Looking closely, I’m intrigued by the material culture at play— the textiles, the plumes in the men's hats, the woman's jewels. You can sense the weight and expense through the intricacy of the engraving. The whole scene appears to signify the upper echelons of 18th-century society in leisure. I’m also drawn to the evident process of using fine lines and hatching to render volume. I almost imagine Flipart working away in a studio, and wonder who these individuals portrayed might be, and what social narratives he intended to highlight through depicting them this way. Curator: And do you get the impression that it's somewhat… romanticised? Editor: Without a doubt. Perhaps not romantic in a literal sense, but there is a stylized and idyllic air that is typical of the era, especially evident in the composition with the woman centrally placed amidst an all-male surrounding. It invites you into this supposed world with promises of beauty and grace. Are those, like, spears they’re all holding behind the figures? It gives the engraving this unexpected combative tone, maybe alluding to unspoken power struggles bubbling beneath this gathering’s elegant surface? Curator: It adds an edge, doesn’t it? Almost as if we’re meant to consider who is guarding whom… It leaves one with so many possible readings. Editor: Right. Art, and how it makes the mind reel… This is a fascinating commentary on luxury, labor and representation – something to hold and ponder indeed.