Ontwerptekening voor een versterkte vestingmuur 1654

Curator: Let’s consider this “Ontwerptekening voor een versterkte vestingmuur,” or Design Drawing for a Fortified Rampart, created around 1654 by Hendrick Baron van Ruse van Rysensteen. It's primarily an etching, using both metal and printmaking techniques. Editor: My immediate reaction is that it's unsettling. Something about the harsh angles, the obsessive detail... It's like a dreamscape of paranoia, laid bare on paper. I can practically hear the grinding of metal and the endless march of soldiers. Curator: Well, you're not far off. Van Ruse was a master of fortifications, and this drawing lays out his approach with meticulous precision. Look at the cross-hatching; he renders the depth and texture of these defenses so tangibly. For him, functionality and artistry weren't separate—they were part of the same process. It's also clearly a design. The technical skill would have taken time to master and each element precisely measured. Editor: And all for what? To contain, to defend, to ward off an enemy, real or imagined? I suppose what gets to me is that this drawing feels so very controlled. But if you compare that to an emotional life lived in wartime where control feels absent. It really captures something human. Curator: That is precisely the intersection that Baroque masters capture! There's something inherently performative to this drawing as well. The detail, the almost aggressive perspective…it's intended to project authority, instill a sense of confidence. What is built is often more theatrical. But, consider also the labor! Someone had to meticulously etch those lines. The work to build a life. Editor: Exactly! The design looks to mass build in many different locations so labor becomes this flexible material as the form travels across land! Thinking about all the human effort required to not only produce this, but implement it...it is overwhelming. It makes me reconsider what defenses can actually do beyond this anxiety-inducing graphic of division. Curator: I concur with your conclusion, particularly given Van Ruse's detailed design! He poured all of his expertise to create that fortress... Now, I cannot wait to see where your perspective takes us next time!