Intelligentie 1560

Curator: This print, made around 1560, is called "Intelligentia" by Cornelis Cort. Look at the sharp contrast! It strikes me immediately. What does it spark in you? Editor: The figure certainly has an ethereal quality. Is that drapery almost cloud-like, melding into the background? The atmosphere feels, simultaneously, both grounded and floating. But "Intelligence?" That seems like quite an assumption on Cort's part, to tie such a grand idea to this, this somewhat rigid scene. Curator: It's the orb, isn’t it? She's holding the world in her hand! It’s not about assumption; it's about aspiration. A dream of comprehension. And isn't there a certain grace in her pose, even a bit of longing in her face as if true understanding is always just beyond reach? Editor: Perhaps. Although, from a critical perspective, what does it signify when 'Intelligence' is consistently portrayed as a white, often Grecian-robed, figure? It reflects a historical privileging of certain demographics within the intellectual sphere. The print reinforces established power dynamics of who gets to define "Intelligence" and whose knowledge is deemed valuable. Curator: It is interesting to view her as part of her cultural context and what this meant to the Europeans of the time. Looking closer, she seems less sure of her intelligence. A shadow passes over her face and that of her feline familiar. In our eagerness to classify her by skin, dress, culture, do we project a definition that's incomplete? And why the wild tree bursting up behind her when cultivated landscaping was all the rage? Cort challenges our perspective of intelligence by drawing connections with instinct. He encourages us to re-consider and expand what we see as the root of intellect and reason. Editor: A more comprehensive, inclusive notion of "Intelligence"…I think that’s certainly something worth striving for as we observe her. And by questioning traditional representations and delving into historical contexts, we can start to move beyond the limitations they impose on our own understanding. Curator: Exactly, Cort’s art encourages us to stay curious and actively seek our understanding—true "intelligentia," if you will—by seeing beyond a world and its people trapped in spheres of power.