Divertissiment de la foire d'Amsterdam c. 18th century

Editor: So, this is "Divertissiment de la foire d'Amsterdam" by Jacobus Houbraken. It looks like a chaotic street scene, everyone scrambling with flags and…are those toy muskets? What’s your take? Curator: My take? It's a beautiful little explosion of the absurd! It's like Houbraken captured a fleeting moment of carnival madness, don't you think? Almost theatrical, the way the figures spill out of the building, onto the street. Editor: Theatrical… like a staged fight? Curator: Exactly! It’s a fever dream of childhood play and adult satire, blurred into one frenetic etching. It makes me wonder, were these 'diversions' actually this… intense? Editor: I never would have guessed it was satire. I’ll look at fairs differently now!