Onstuimigheid c. 1605

Curator: "Onstuimigheid," a circa 1605 engraving by Raffaello Schiaminossi, here in the Rijksmuseum, presents a very... intense figure, wouldn't you say? Editor: My initial reaction? Slightly theatrical. It's like looking at a character from a fever dream – opulent clothes, this melancholic gaze, and a bizarre smoking pipe... shaped like some sort of... fruit? Is it a fruit? It feels a little unbalanced; is it just me? Curator: Unbalanced is intriguing! Formally, the composition centers on this elaborate figure, his swaggering pose. Schiaminossi used very fine lines to create the shading and textures, giving the work a sense of depth despite being an engraving. Consider the layering, particularly in his clothing and the rendering of musculature... This imbues him with a dynamic sense of almost pent-up energy. Editor: Musculature? It seems almost cartoonish in places, don't you think? Like he’s inflated. Maybe that adds to that feverish quality; everything seems just slightly off-kilter. But this... this "Impetus Animi" (or "impulse of the spirit") conveyed by that title combined with this ludicrous accoutrement... it’s either intensely symbolic, or Schiaminossi had a wild sense of humor. Curator: Symbolism was definitely important in art from this time. The figure’s strange pipe-instrument— that does indeed look a bit like a gourd!— may be symbolic; musical instruments at that time sometimes connoted harmony. Given this figure is so outlandish in dress and posture, we could even posit a discord. Editor: I get that discord! Like someone trying too hard, or striking an inauthentic note. He could almost be a parody of a nobleman or a courtier; so then it’s also as if the “impulse of the spirit” is affected or somehow forced? What you mention concerning "harmony", it might reveal the work’s essence… that he strikes that out of the portrayed motif. What remains so alluring about it all this time. Curator: Indeed. His odd apparel, that ambiguous musical implement—these combine in such a way that challenges our notions concerning aesthetic grace. A very peculiar Baroque moment of sublime grotesque. Editor: It’s made me see it differently, certainly—the odd, somewhat confrontational composition that somehow works. Thanks! Curator: And thank you—always refreshing to examine how these old masters managed to throw us curveballs of visuality across centuries.