Manuscript aan Vittorio Pica c. 1903

This is a letter to Vittorio Pica by Philip Zilcken. No date is given, but imagine Zilcken hunched over his desk, dipping his pen into the ink, the nib scratching across the paper. What was on his mind, what did he want to tell Pica? Look closely and you can see the pressure he exerted. See where the ink pools, darker, heavier, or where it is fainter, lighter. Zilcken's handwriting is tight and uniform, each letter carefully formed, reflecting perhaps a desire for clarity, or maybe just the habits of a well-trained hand. I wonder, was it difficult to write like that? Did it take patience, a steady hand, a clear head? The paper itself, now aged and yellowed, adds another layer. The ink has faded slightly, blurring the edges of the letters, giving them a ghostlike quality. Zilcken's words, now preserved in the Rijksmuseum, invite us to reflect on the ongoing exchange of ideas across time, inspiring and shaping our creative expressions.