Inname van Geertruidenberg, 1593 1593 - 1595

Editor: This is "Inname van Geertruidenberg, 1593," made between 1593 and 1595 by Frans Hogenberg. It's a print, a drawing with ink and engraving. The detail is just incredible! With its bird's-eye view, it's like an infographic of a siege. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I am immediately drawn to the formal relationships at play. Notice the contrasting textures: the dense, intricate linework describing the architecture and figures versus the comparatively sparse depiction of the water. This juxtaposition creates a visual tension, doesn't it? It structures how our eye moves through the image. How does the artist guide our gaze, what formal means does he deploy to guide and arrest it? Editor: I see that. All those tiny lines definitely create a lot of visual weight around the city and the armies. Curator: Precisely. Also observe the deployment of the line itself. Hogenberg uses hatching and cross-hatching, employing variation and controlled applications of pressure, so as to define volume and space, primarily of geometrical shapes that have then been developed further to arrive at familiar elements – fortified strongholds, pitching of the decks of galleons and carracks – to lend verisimilitude. The density gives certain segments of the depiction structural support to express and impress narrative of ‘Inname,’ a capturing. Editor: It’s interesting how he focuses on structure over any real sense of depth or atmosphere. Curator: Indeed. Perspective is secondary to the articulation of form and the clear representation of strategic elements. The goal is not illusionism, but rather a systematic, almost diagrammatic presentation of information through meticulous arrangements of line and form and how they interplay and are presented. Are these observations about a picture enough to grasp its meanings and context in History? Is it more – something to consider that could be? Editor: I hadn’t thought about it that way, focusing just on what’s shown and how, rather than why it was made or what it means beyond the picture itself. It definitely gives me a new appreciation for how much detail and structure can tell a story.