Het dierenrijk, is lieve jeugd, / Hier afgebeeld tot uwe vreugd; / Gij kunt gerust met hen verkeeren, / De wreedste zelfs zal u niet deeren 1848 - 1881

Curator: Well, this is intriguing! "The animal kingdom, is sweet youth, / Pictured here for your joy; / You can safely associate with them, / The cruelest will not harm you." This print by Lutkie & Cranenburg, sometime between 1848 and 1881. Editor: My immediate impression is that it's incredibly naive and charming! The animals rendered in these somewhat blocky shapes and odd colour combinations have an almost childlike feel. Curator: It’s tempting to see this through a colonial lens. Look at the implied innocence, the suggestion of dominance over the natural world through knowledge and control…it speaks volumes about the era’s socio-political mindset and burgeoning understanding of science. Editor: Yes, the arrangement of each animal within its little box and framed with these stark lines has a rather formal taxonomic feel. But beyond that, it focuses on these wonderful primary and secondary colors used in blocks with no attempt at realistic shading or naturalism. It calls attention to the formal elements, making you consider the surface, not the illusion of depth. Curator: And what about the animals selected for depiction? Lion, elephant, tiger… followed by “wolf”, “wild boar”… Were they purposefully including “tamed” and “untamed” creatures to draw sharp contrasts between controlled domesticity and threatening wildness, speaking to anxieties present in this burgeoning colonial mindset? Editor: Interesting thought, I had not considered the animal selection criteria from that point of view. Curator: What do you mean? Editor: Instead, I see something that calls back to emblem books: each animal symbolizing different attributes for us to emulate or reject. Curator: So the text is a guide to appropriate engagement? Are they perhaps also critiquing animalistic behaviors exhibited in social classes during the time period? It provides food for thought, at the very least. Editor: Precisely! These seemingly simple choices about line and color, along with those carefully considered subjects, work together to make it a powerfully and multifaceted design.