Verklaring van De overwinning van de Schilderkunst over de Dood (deel een) c. 1660

Editor: We’re looking at "Explanation of the Victory of Painting over Death (part one)," a drawing in ink on paper from around 1660 by Henrik Jordis, housed in the Rijksmuseum. The work resembles calligraphic script laid out on a page; it makes me wonder if it's the preliminary page of a manuscript or a poem. How might we interpret this artwork? Curator: Consider the era's fascination with allegory and emblem books. Jordis seems to weave text and image, a common practice. The very act of writing becomes a symbolic struggle against mortality. Don't you see the inherent duality? Editor: I can see that; it feels like he’s using the beauty of the writing itself, and references to victory to make it an ode to painting. What significance lies in using the script, the *written* word, to celebrate something visual? Curator: Ah, but writing itself carries immense visual weight! Each flourish, the density of the ink, echoes the artistry found in brushstrokes. Perhaps he is suggesting that both are forms of creation and stand in opposition to chaos and death. Are both painting and drawing united in their shared humanity and resistance against fading from the cultural memory? Editor: That's interesting; I didn't think of it that way initially. I was so focused on the visual, but it's about their unified message and lasting appeal. Curator: And in its seeming specificity, might we see a universal longing for art to outlive us all?