Hand in hand lopend paar, gevolgd door een jongeman c. 1654 - 1658

Curator: This delightful drawing, held at the Rijksmuseum, is titled "Hand in hand lopend paar, gevolgd door een jongeman," which translates to "Couple Walking Hand in Hand, Followed by a Young Man," created by Gesina ter Borch around 1654-1658 using ink and watercolor. What are your first thoughts? Editor: Whimsical, definitely whimsical. There’s a playful lightness to the line work, yet the formality of the attire suggests a certain social context, a performance. The colors are muted but somehow lively. Curator: It is fascinating how clothing acts as a symbolic visual system of hierarchy, class and gender. What narrative do these costumes establish? Is the cape on the male figure a projection of status? Or does it convey the limitations on expression enacted through rules of courtship? The gaze, the gait, and hand-holding of the couple indicates accepted heterosexual practices. Yet, is the lone, secondary male figure excluded from that arrangement in a symbolic sense? What commentary on gender and relationships does this tableau reflect? Editor: Indeed. Those fashions scream Dutch Golden Age prosperity and its symbolic visual cues: The cut of their garments, their carriage. I also wonder about the dogs. Dogs as symbols of fidelity in portraiture have a long lineage. Are these breeds communicating certain aspects of domesticity? Perhaps there are visual links, say the collars, between the dogs and the couple, that reinforces the cultural message around ownership. What aspects of fidelity are they signaling within a larger, gendered discourse? Curator: These questions point towards an ongoing tension between prescribed social behavior and personal autonomy in this period. Even in what seems to be a simple genre scene, we find the undercurrents of gendered and economic expectations simmering beneath the surface, don't you think? Editor: Precisely. The seemingly effortless sketch reveals a potent mixture of material and symbolic layers within Dutch culture. The interplay between ink, watercolor, clothing and symbols make it an enduring puzzle to untangle, offering new interpretations with each look.