Ruitergevecht 1800 - 1841

"Ruitergevecht," or "Cavalry Fight," was created by Joannes Bemme sometime between the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Bemme was working in a period where the echoes of Enlightenment ideals about liberty and nationhood were clashing against the old order of Europe. This print captures the drama of military conflict, it also speaks to the romanticization of warfare. The riders are locked in combat, their expressions obscured, yet their struggle is imbued with a certain energy. What does it mean to portray violence with such aesthetic distance? Is it a reflection on duty, or does it highlight the complex relationship between violence, power, and identity? Bemme's work invites us to reflect on the stories we tell about conflict and who gets to write them. It’s a reminder that even in the midst of chaos, there are always questions of identity, power, and representation at play.