The Goddess Fortuna Bestowing her Gifts c. 1645

Curator: Here we have Simon Flocquet's *The Goddess Fortuna Bestowing her Gifts*, from around 1645. Oil paint on canvas, a grand display of Baroque drama. What strikes you first? Editor: It’s utter chaos, isn’t it? Beautiful, skillfully rendered chaos, with a theatrical spotlight aimed down like a divine blessing on the grasping mortals. It looks like an overflowing cornucopia, but what IS that stuff coming down? Curator: Indeed. The composition emphasizes a society both reliant and desperately yearning for prosperity. Those cascading 'gifts' include symbols of wealth and status; objects produced and traded to cement class distinctions. See the scattered musical instruments and what appear to be coins, reflecting economic and cultural transactions. Editor: Right, I see them now! And there’s a distinct hierarchy being played out in the poses and reactions to this goddess figure. Some figures appear quite literally bowled over while others stretch up to grasp what's coming. Tell me more about this Fortuna. Is she benevolent? Is she malevolent? Curator: The concept of Fortuna has roots going back to ancient Rome and Greece, symbolizing luck, chance, and fate – rarely controllable, her gifts, and setbacks, dispensed seemingly at random, served sociopolitical aims as reminders that hierarchy depended on divine, fickle providence. Flocquet was working at the crossroads of courtly fashion and a broader merchant economy. The use of oil allowed for smooth, almost glossy surfaces. Editor: I like that thought! It feels like Flocquet is actively questioning the nature of that control. Is he skeptical, or is it pure pageantry for its patron? I'm thinking about that contrast between the dark, turbulent sky in the distance versus the bright fabric and fair skin up front and at the very top. And that swan—what a strange touch of calmness and pure beauty! It's a funny addition amongst this wild greed. Curator: The swan, possibly a status symbol displayed ostentatiously for onlookers; Flocquet is prompting viewers to consider where labor and materials originate; we see an almost casual display of exploitation via that positioning of darker skinned laborers under the deity's pedestal, underscoring uncomfortable hierarchies made pretty for audiences. Editor: So this isn't simply a celebration but an analysis and a criticism, perhaps even a grim warning against unrestrained consumption. Very layered indeed. I might've walked right past this at first. Curator: Right, so much is communicated just below that gloriously Baroque surface, and in how skillfully it all comes together through material practices.