Een heiden wordt ten overstaan van paus Urbanus II gewurgd c. 1722 - 1784

Curator: Simon Fokke created this pen-and-ink sketch sometime between 1722 and 1784. It’s called "Een heiden wordt ten overstaan van paus Urbanus II gewurgd"—"A pagan is strangled before Pope Urban II". It’s currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Gosh, the title is a bit of a spoiler, isn't it? I find myself immediately drawn to the raw, almost violent energy conveyed through such delicate lines. It’s chilling, actually. Curator: Right, the process of pen-and-ink allows for a fascinating tension. Look at the layering of lines, almost frantic, suggesting movement and chaos. Consider Fokke's labor; each stroke is a deliberate act, a physical engagement with the historical narrative. The sketch itself as a form, cheap, quick to create—perfect for conveying politically subversive views and popular opinion, circulating critiques of religious power structures through mass reproductions like prints. Editor: Absolutely. There's a real immediacy here; you can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the paper. I'm thinking about the strangled figure... vulnerable but oddly dignified, almost heroic in their resistance, or lack thereof, facing power. The landscape seems irrelevant; perhaps an intentional comment that the act is devoid of morality? Curator: That resistance speaks volumes. How might such stark imagery act in galvanizing anti-establishment sentiments during that period? How were those prints consumed and shared? Editor: Yes, there's also something profoundly disturbing about seeing something so brutal rendered with such fragile materials. It underscores the way violence can be sanitized or abstracted when reproduced or communicated en masse. We see horrors everywhere and barely blink; an apt metaphor maybe for desensitization... Curator: Precisely. Considering its presence in a sketchbook suggests its potential function as preparation material to develop an established printed oeuvre. It invites questions regarding preliminary process, artist intentions, production possibilities, and what was intended for popular consumption. Editor: Reflecting now, this initially stark image offers up multiple views around morality and means of communication and the fragility that supports violence. Thanks! Curator: Agreed, and it really invites reflection on the materiality of artistic production and its link to disseminating ideas!