Signalement van Lucas van Steveninck, 1787 1787

Curator: We're looking at a print from 1787 called "Signalement van Lucas van Steveninck." Editor: It feels very austere, very matter-of-fact, almost… forensic. The typography is straightforward, creating dense blocks of text that lack visual relief. Is it a wanted poster? Curator: Indeed, it is. This document serves as both an advertisement and a "signalement," essentially a description or wanted notice. The text reveals that Lucas van Steveninck, a medical doctor from Middelburg, is suspected of involvement in disturbances occurring between June 29th and July 2nd, 1787. Editor: Disturbances indeed. The town authorities offer a thousand guilders for his live capture and delivery to justice, ensuring the informer's anonymity, of course. But the "signalement" part; that’s amazing. I see such descriptive detail… height, complexion, eyebrow color. It details his clothing. Curator: The specifics construct an identity based on external features—his pale complexion, brown eyebrows, deeply set eyes, the way he holds a walking stick. Notice the power imbued within visual attributes, even language itself, becomes a tool of control. Editor: Precisely! There’s a sense of cataloging, stripping away the human to create a series of objective… markers. It seems this was a conscious choice about a system being deployed against an individual, not an objective accounting of characteristics. That phrase at the end too; he is "speaking rapidly in the Dutch language". Interesting detail, maybe meant to portray anxiety, as opposed to refined rhetoric. Curator: Exactly, it's about how perceived deviations from societal norms, even speech patterns, become points of suspicion and ultimately, tools for marginalization. Van Steveninck became a figure defined by these visible markers. Editor: Considering it, this "signalement" says so much about that society, its fears, its control mechanisms…it goes beyond identifying an individual, it creates one. Curator: Yes, visual description transforms into a potent form of symbolic branding—a warning, shaping perceptions beyond objective identifiers. Editor: A rather stark reminder that appearance and language can become incredibly powerful instruments for both control and resistance, influencing the course of history.