Allegorie op de Vrede van Rijswijk, 1697 1673 - 1697

Curator: Have you seen this rather crowded print, Editor? It's "Allegory on the Peace of Rijswijk, 1697," created somewhere between 1673 and 1697. Editor: My first impression? Overwhelming! It feels like a visual feast, a chaotic but lively Baroque explosion. What’s your read? Curator: It’s an engraving, and dense is definitely the word! Coenraet Decker really packed it. The whole thing is a historical allegory, meant to celebrate the Peace of Rijswijk that temporarily paused the Nine Years' War. The original’s held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Ah, an allegory—so everything is symbolic. I'm noticing how the figures at the top, floating amidst clouds, look almost celebratory. But then you have what appears to be chaotic seascapes depicted toward the center with all kinds of figures. It’s such a contrast! Curator: Exactly. It’s glorifying the Peace—the central figures on the ship represent the major powers involved, sailing towards prosperity, supposedly guided by wisdom and justice. The chaos in the seas and the scenes depicted in the smaller images symbolize the hardships they are sailing away from. Editor: Look at how the artist employs a relatively dense cluster of hatched marks to create depth and convey an interesting interplay between darkness and light across the artwork's many details! Curator: It's an impressive technical display for the period. Decker uses these visual cues to direct your gaze despite the overall complexity. It's worth pausing to see all of the different textural rendering that give this baroque piece some life. Editor: A grand statement on peace and power. After this discussion, the piece reads less chaotic and more intentionally layered, revealing new narrative levels the longer you look. Curator: I appreciate its narrative, this tangible reminder of the tangible efforts that world powers take towards ceasing protracted wars.