Tandarts 1665 - 1700

Curator: Right now we are standing in front of an etching from somewhere between 1665 and 1700 entitled "Tandarts". Editor: Ugh. Instantly, the overall darkness and the grimaces on these characters just fill me with anxiety. Curator: That’s an interesting reaction. It is quite a Baroque vision, steeped in shadow and rendered with that slightly unnerving flair for the dramatic. This genre scene zeroes in on the spectacle of a tooth extraction, presumably somewhere out in the open. Editor: Open air dentistry! Delightful! So the central figure must be the poor soul undergoing the procedure...and his expression alone is pretty archetypal. Terror mixed with resignation? Curator: Precisely. Observe the detail—the stark contrast of the tooth-puller looming over the patient. There’s a whole mini-drama playing out with each supporting character too. Editor: Oh, absolutely! The gawkers. Each of them is offering up their own reaction; whether it's pity or morbid fascination or schadenfreude. It is so telling how collectively the presence of this event unifies everyone... even though everyone is having an independent, personal experience. Curator: What I love about these types of scenes is that on the surface it's just what it seems—a literal depiction of everyday life back then. But when you look at it through the lens of symbolism you recognize so much about collective human nature—the timelessness of the scene is quite something. We are as attracted to, and repulsed by, public misfortune as those long ago in 17th century. Editor: Exactly, you see that echoed through everything from our horror films to reality television. The image becomes less about the specific practice of a 'tandarts' and more about broader themes of community, suffering, and witnessing the misfortunes of others. This piece doesn’t just show us dental work, but a whole society reflecting on mortality, fear, and pain. It is actually making me see dentists in an all-new allegorical way. Curator: Well put. The artwork offers such a strange glimpse. Editor: Definitely, I won't look at my dentist in the same way after this! It will make for an interesting story at the very least, haha.