Optocht nrs 25-28 1840

Curator: This engraving from 1840 is entitled "Optocht nrs 25-28." We don't know who created it, but we know that it invokes the visual language of the medieval period. What's your first take on it? Editor: It’s all so grey! Even the horses have these strange coverings. Is this supposed to be… majestic? I’m getting a very solemn, almost mournful vibe from it. Curator: Indeed, the limited color palette contributes to the artwork’s serious mood, but if we look beyond that, we start to uncover questions of representation. Here, figures on horseback are displayed. Think about how, throughout history, the act of riding, of dominating a beast, became symbolic of masculine authority, of the patriarchy. How is that represented here? Editor: Right, the guys on horses are clearly in charge—look at all those heraldic banners, signals of power. The artist even gave one dude at the front a stick. Like, ‘everyone listen to ME and my stick!’ It's theatrical almost. Like Renaissance Fair serious. Curator: And isn’t it telling that all the horses are so decked out, too? The attention to detail there reminds me of questions of gender and performance—these coverings are purely ornamental and become statements in their own right. Editor: Like putting jewelry on a car. Except way more feudal. I wonder how long it took to get all those horses ready for this 'optocht,' whatever that even means! I imagine a lot of screaming stable boys and irritable knights. Curator: I like how you're thinking through the labor dynamics involved. And speaking of that, let's think for a moment about Anonymous' choice to create it through engraving, a medium requiring the skilled craftsmanship of translating vision through carefully-etched lines, instead of paint which provides different means of interpretations through textures or gesture. Editor: Totally different vibe! Okay, but you know, despite all this symbolic whatnot, there’s something oddly…static about the piece, as if everything important already happened, like it's a postcard after the war is already over, right? Curator: Well said. And that very still moment allows us as modern viewers to insert our own questions and positionalities, as well, which I find so generative. Editor: Makes me wonder what they’d all be ordering for their celebratory medieval pizza! Now, that’s a party I wanna see engraved. Curator: That is an engraving I’d add to my collection! Thank you for helping unlock a more contemporary narrative around this historical piece. Editor: Anytime! Always up for some art speculation…especially if pizza is somehow involved.