Al dees vogels die gij hier ziet, / En zingen noch en kraaijen niet 1806 - 1830

Curator: Looking at this print, I immediately feel transported... it's like leafing through a medieval bestiary, but rendered with such playful restraint. Editor: Indeed, it's titled "All these birds that you see here, neither sing nor crow", an engraving created sometime between 1806 and 1830 by Johan Noman. You can find it here in the Rijksmuseum collection. Its reliance on line and the framed structure evokes order and cataloging. Curator: It's this "cataloging" that strikes me. Each little vignette is like a captured moment, almost pinning down these creatures for observation. Though, the archaic script and the bird’s expressions do bring a curious character to each box. It's oddly endearing. Editor: Each of the small squares contains a bird, rendered in stark black lines against a pale ground. Notice how the artist uses the contrast to define their forms, but with differing densities. It makes it appear almost photographic in its values. Curator: But not quite! There’s a fantastic stiffness to their poses, and their features seem simplified, making each individual feel familiar but abstracted. A formalist lens might pick up a deep historical tradition that this art pulls on? It reads like this comes out of some early need to create a book on ornithology and an exploration into moralizing lessons in its very visual design. Editor: One might say so. Consider the overall grid structure—the composition leans heavily on balance and repetition. Yet within each frame there’s this tension, a play between detailed observation and symbolic representation that hints at a structural underlay to reality. Curator: You’re right, it's about that careful selection and ordering of information; making visual patterns in that period could’ve created a specific dialogue between society and what we know about nature. Looking again, the use of engraving – so meticulous! Each line seems deliberately etched, defining form while hinting at texture. Editor: Agreed. The engraver's hand is evident, revealing a layered dialogue of art and technique to yield great formal insights. Curator: Well, whatever the purpose behind this charming aviary, I find a certain quaint magic to these stiffly rendered birds that continue to call. Editor: A sentiment I share entirely. Its blending of formal rigidity and charming representation continues to resonate.