De Middagh / Le Midi 1702 - 1726

Curator: Look closely at this engraving, "De Middagh/Le Midi," created between 1702 and 1726. Its attributable to Pieter van den Berge and the medium is print engraving. It resides in the Rijksmuseum. What’s your first impression? Editor: Struck by the texture. Look at all the labor involved in that hatching, creating such detailed, intimate interior from just lines. The clothing folds, the wall tiles… so much handiwork, but almost austere in mood? Curator: The scene depicts a midday meal. Observe the people gathered; it offers an interesting peek into domestic life of the period and it really captures a specific moment in time. Editor: Precisely. Domestic, but who produced what we see? Silverware, pottery on the shelves. Someone mined that silver, a potter shaped and fired those vessels, the fabric dyed and woven... this little genre painting hides so much production. The work happening beyond this scene. Curator: It’s intimate, isn't it? Consider that domestic tranquility idealized but surely those goods came from elsewhere... It begs the question, what compromises and inequalities are built into those "pleasantries of life?" But the printmaker translates them and we contemplate. The way the light is depicted as well! So detailed... Editor: Absolutely, look at the casual luxury. Consider this an artwork speaking to consumption itself – or a warning about being over-consuming. Food, tableware... how much *stuff* they've accrued. What materials they valued, what they didn’t see. That tells its own tale. The paper itself would've been luxury for many as well. Curator: Perhaps! It does reflect our current discussions about our footprint on the world, I suppose. Still I appreciate this small scene as a meditation on time, families and what it is to have lived back then. Editor: Definitely. Something about viewing art like this allows us to really think deeply about what it represents socially and materially, and question all of our relations and responsibilities.