Illustratie voor de Decamerone van Boccaccio 1697

Editor: So this is Romeyn de Hooghe's 1697 etching, "Illustration for Boccaccio's Decameron." It’s… pretty dramatic. I’m struck by how vulnerable the woman appears, literally cornered. How do you read this piece? Curator: This piece is not simply dramatic, it is a snapshot of the violence inflicted on women, a story as old as time itself. I think about the male gaze inherent in representing this vulnerability. The ‘Decameron’ itself is filled with problematic scenarios. Considering de Hooghe’s historical context, and Baroque conventions, what critical questions can we pose about this scene? Editor: You mean, beyond the obvious power dynamic? The woman is being attacked while others are coming with weapons but their reaction seems so… delayed. Almost voyeuristic? Curator: Precisely. The frozen quality of those figures and the woman’s exaggerated pose bring into focus the theater of the event. How is the setting complicit? How might the wildness of the forest surrounding her mirror anxieties of her own uninhibited feminine nature, read by that male-dominated society as dangerous? Editor: It’s unsettling to think about how those fears played out – both back then and, you know, today. Curator: Indeed. This engraving asks us to consider who profits from displays of power, and how that shapes not only artistic representation, but lived reality. Does art reflect reality, or does it perpetuate stereotypes that cause harm? Editor: I hadn't considered the forest or delayed reactions that way before – as reinforcing the woman's perceived wildness and vulnerability in order to confirm male authority. Now it really changes the impact for me.