Jacht op verschillende vogels 1528 - 1583

Curator: Looking at this detailed pen drawing, "Jacht op verschillende vogels," dating sometime between 1528 and 1583 and attributed to Etienne Delaune, I'm immediately struck by the incredible range of textures achieved with just ink on paper. It’s quite a narrative packed into a small space. Editor: My first thought is just… industrious. The detail is insane, but it all feels a little…cold? Precise, definitely, but not necessarily evocative, except maybe of the labour involved in hunting. Look at that net— someone actually wove that! Curator: Cold, maybe, because it is about the business of survival, though transformed through the engraver's meticulous hand. You’ve noticed how prominent the tools and the *means* of capture are displayed –the guns, the crossbow, and of course that finely woven net. They dominate the landscape nearly as much as the fleeing birds themselves. Editor: Exactly! The focus isn't just on the hunt but on the infrastructure, the very tools *made* to dominate nature. Is that how society itself felt at the time, building itself in some form? This obsession feels almost mercantile, as the tools feel commodified. Curator: It's almost an inventory, isn't it? A compendium of hunting techniques laid bare. Beyond the techniques themselves, what also holds my attention is that landscape – it doesn't feel entirely real, almost theatrical. The trees are... stylized, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Definitely constructed – not just artistically, but perhaps conceptually as well? Delaune is demonstrating human manipulation of the environment and perhaps making it appealing too? You have hunters and hunted in balance with nature so society and economy remain undisturbed by morality. This seems to be his purpose. Curator: A very fine point, and well made! The image then moves from something illustrative towards something closer to philosophy... perhaps hinting at our troubled but intimate relationship with nature’s resources through craft and labour. It's the craft itself that lends the moral. Editor: Agreed. Craft reveals intent, and the labor that made this sketch, parallels that shown within the landscape, suggesting these crafted materials for capture reveal the means of a society that is structured upon exploitation. The labor creates something troubling.