Middag 1799

Editor: This is Jean Marie Delattre's "Middag", an engraving from 1799. It has such a calm, idyllic feeling. The composition, nestled in an oval frame, reminds me of a scene from a play, capturing a rural family at rest. What strikes you when you look at this print? Curator: It whispers of simpler times, doesn’t it? The neoclassical embrace of pastoral life, carefully arranged and elegantly rendered. Delattre is showing us not just a moment of rest, but an ideal. Notice how the light falls, almost theatrical, highlighting the figures while gently softening the landscape. The woman carrying the basket almost seems to float. Is she bringing the bounty or just leaving it behind after their meal? Editor: I see what you mean about the ideal! It’s not quite the gritty reality of farm work, is it? More like a refined fantasy. That oval format really corrals the wildness, shaping our gaze, right? The soft gradations in tone makes everything feel hazy. Curator: Precisely! And it is precisely that hazy softness that invites us in. Almost like we’re catching a glimpse of someone else's memory of summer. And perhaps it prompts us to reflect on the curated realities we, too, present to the world, then and now. Editor: Hmm, it makes me think about how much we romanticize the past! It seems even in 1799 people did the same. Curator: And aren't we always editing our stories, sifting through what we keep and what we discard? That's maybe what this genre-painting tells us the most! Editor: Thanks! I’ll definitely think of it that way from now on.