De volwassenheid 18th century

Curator: This delicate 18th-century watercolor, “De volwassenheid,” which translates to "Adulthood" by Giovanni Volpato is held in the Rijksmuseum's collection. It really does evoke a specific era with such charming decorum. Editor: First thought? Pastel daydream. A confection. That ornate floral border—it almost looks like edible icing, a cake celebrating...something. And look at that, even the figures are lightly painted and colored, which adds a pleasant lightness. Curator: Volpato's material choices certainly emphasize the Rococo aesthetic. Watercolour lends itself to delicate depictions of leisure, consumption and refined socialization, no? One can imagine this as perhaps a preparatory design circulated among wealthy patrons for larger decorative works. The economics of luxury is written all over the piece. Editor: Precisely. Imagine, if you will, being one of those patrons. Just looking at this image almost makes me want to sip champagne by a fountain tended by little cherubic boys, not sure about adulthood implying that. Curator: And yet, isn't that precisely the artifice the Baroque period often constructed? A visual language designed to obfuscate labor, poverty, disease. The means of production – from pigment mining to the societal structures supporting elite lifestyles – all neatly erased for the sake of aesthetic consumption. Editor: True. And isn't art often an illusion? Speaking of materiality, I’m drawn to the servant holding the tray. The attention to his blue stockings suggests a detail of status within that context of servitude and paints him to be another ornament of leisure. Do we assume that this implies his work and value? Curator: He’s part of the stage setting. Watercolor here wasn’t about raw expression, but carefully delineated social strata, encoded in every fold of fabric, every carefully presented refreshment. The consumption here isn’t merely visual, it represents broader economic processes at play. Editor: Hmm, I suppose my Rococo fantasy will have to come crashing down to earth! All considered, this piece provides a fascinating glimpse into those bygone days, its production, what it hides, what it highlights—certainly deserving of appreciation beyond just that sugary shell.