Ziet Steven van der Klok, met al zyn vroome daaden, Waarmeê hy was voorzien en rykelyk belaaden 1761 - 1804

Curator: Here we have a print dating from the late 18th to early 19th century, between 1761 and 1804 to be exact. The title is rather a mouthful: "Ziet Steven van der Klok, met al zyn vroome daaden, Waarmee hy was voorzien en rykelyk belaaden," currently residing at the Rijksmuseum. It appears to be an engraving, or perhaps another printmaking technique. Editor: Oh, wow, it’s almost like a comic strip from a bygone era. The little boxes – panels, I guess – have this very homespun, almost naive quality, and yet each one is so detailed. There's a strange charm here. Curator: Indeed. From a materialist perspective, we see an early form of mass communication, enabled by printmaking technology. This would have made narratives accessible to a wider audience. Note the depiction of labor, farming, carpentry – everyday activities made visible. The Erven de Weduwe Jacobus van Egmont was the publisher; let's remember the significant role of women within production and craft at the time. Editor: It makes me think about how we construct narratives. Each tiny scene, it feels like snapshots from someone's life, not grand events, just little snippets of morality perhaps, almost proverbs in visual form. It also plays with time in an interesting way, these many frames across a single plane, demanding a sequence. Curator: The technique also interests me; notice the cross-hatching creating depth, a sophisticated exploitation of the print medium. It transcends its immediate purpose as illustration, highlighting instead the methods employed by the anonymous artist. The circulation of images like this also supported early consumer culture and ideas. Editor: I wonder about Steven van der Klok. Is this a celebration of a real person, an ideal? Or is it pure fiction? It is wonderful how this piece is full of stories—inviting us to weave them together, across eras and materials. I would love to be able to read all the text on those captions below each individual scene. Curator: Exactly! A key takeaway, I think, is its connection to both the social and the personal. A single artwork can contain so much; labor and faith, history and creativity. Editor: A tiny window to the past indeed, captured in ink, etched onto paper and now echoing softly down the centuries to where we're all standing, staring at our devices!