Onderboezem omringd door lijstwerk 1632 - 1693

Curator: Let's turn our attention to this intriguing drawing: "Onderboezem omringd door lijstwerk"–"Mantelpiece Surrounded by Moldings"–created between 1632 and 1693. It's an engraving by François de Poilly currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It strikes me as almost oppressively formal. The precision of the lines and the symmetry is, well, a lot. It looks more like a blueprint than a piece of art. Curator: Precisely. It’s less concerned with individual artistic expression and more with demonstrating the architectural possibilities afforded by the Baroque style. Consider how interior design at this time reflected socio-political power. Fireplaces, especially ornate ones like this, weren't merely functional, they were statements of wealth, status, and control. Editor: Ah, I see it now. It is essentially propaganda for the upper class. Look at the repetitive use of rectangular shapes and linear detailing. I’m drawn to that stark contrast in forms. It provides visual weight, and directs your focus vertically and gives a sense of grandiose expansion. Curator: The symmetry also projects authority. Note how every detail—from the scrolled pediment to the delicate molding—is mirrored on either side. What's interesting is to ask why design manuals like this one were distributed. What sector of society are these images trying to convince, what kind of behaviors are they trying to manufacture? Editor: A valid point. And as propaganda it must use all means available, the clean lines, but also, subtly, that grandness of composition that the drawing presents. By stripping away all warmth of emotion the artwork seems more efficient at getting a point across: you cannot argue with precision. Curator: Well, the Baroque, for all its emphasis on grandeur, was a moment in European history rife with social upheaval. Seeing it simply as propaganda, it can still highlight an intersection between wealth, authority and artistic practice. Editor: It leaves me rather cold. It's like a beautiful mathematical equation: precise and functional but devoid of soul. Curator: Yet its rigid geometry and controlled ornamentation reveal power dynamics and class anxieties of the time period. Every formal decision reveals how social and material constraints can affect artistic expressions.