Het lijk van Karel de Stoute, gevonden in een moeras, vastgevroren in het ijs, 1477 1789

Editor: So this engraving, “Het lijk van Karel de Stoute, gevonden in een moeras, vastgevroren in het ijs, 1477”, made in 1789 by Reinier Vinkeles, depicts the discovery of Charles the Bold's body. The stark composition and use of light and shadow give it a really somber and tragic feel. What do you see in this piece, considering it's a historical scene rendered in this particular way? Curator: Formally, the engraving is quite intriguing. Vinkeles has created a stark contrast, hasn't he? The foreground figures are rendered with meticulous detail, emphasizing their forms, while the background dissolves into a more loosely defined, almost atmospheric space. The engraver manipulates light through hatching and cross-hatching to create a sense of depth and texture, especially noticeable on the body itself. Note how the light source seems ambiguous, adding to the drama. What effect does this visual division create for you? Editor: It feels like the sharp details in the front highlight the immediate human impact and almost forces you to contemplate it. It's like a stage. The blurry background, on the other hand, it’s the blurred circumstances, more vague. It almost mutes any heroism connected to battle or authority. Curator: Precisely! There's a deliberate orchestration of visual elements that leads us to reflect not just on the event, but how it is presented. The artist's structural choices create that drama by juxtaposing clarity with obscurity. Editor: That is true; seeing it this way really emphasizes the deliberate construction and choices in the work, shifting focus from merely the historical event to the way it's conveyed. Curator: Indeed. Now you see past what is shown to the underlying structural grammar of depiction.