Venus en Amor in stadsgezicht met een brug 1562

Editor: Here we have Battista Angolo del Moro's "Venus en Amor in stadsgezicht met een brug," an engraving from 1562, currently residing at the Rijksmuseum. There’s something both epic and intimate about it. All this activity on the bridge contrasted with Venus and Amor down by the river... it’s an odd combination. What stands out to you in this piece? Curator: Odd is good! I see a dance between the mundane and the mythical. It is an entire little universe. The bustling city life on the bridge—look at that caravan—continues as though divinity isn’t lounging just around the river bend. A bridge, traditionally a symbol of connection, here feels like a divider between worlds. Battista’s world. It is an attempt, through graphic rendering, at poetry. Do you find the contrast jarring, or perhaps… complementary? Editor: I think at first I found it jarring, but now that you point out the 'two worlds' aspect, I’m starting to see how they might be enhancing each other. Like the everyday hustle accentuates the stillness of Venus. Curator: Exactly! And the very *act* of placing Venus in such a common setting subtly elevates it, as if claiming myth exists even here. The soft rendering contrasts starkly with the geometry, the hard lines defining the city in the distance. The Renaissance artists, bless their souls, were often trying to ground ideals into our imperfect reality. To me it seems like it. Is there anything here that *doesn't* fit into our picture of history? Editor: I love that--'grounding ideals.' I guess it's kind of funny seeing mythological figures dealing with riverfront property. It brings them closer to us, makes the untouchable touchable. Curator: Precisely. Perhaps this image is telling us that the sacred and the secular, love and labor, they coexist, and, with a keen artistic eye, perhaps they may inform each other too? What are your new sentiments for that bridge after a little meditation, eh? Editor: Well, I am more appreciative now of how the image creates space for those types of reflections. It also speaks of how varied engravings can be.