Diverses Pieces de Serruriers, page 14 (recto) 1658 - 1668

Curator: Ah, a skeleton key to my subconscious! The lines, even in this digital reproduction, are so alive. Editor: I know, right? It has such a commanding presence on the page. We're looking at a page from "Diverses Pieces de Serruriers," a series of prints by Jean Berain, dating roughly from 1658 to 1668. Curator: Berain, you sly fox! What do you suppose unlocking our minds might reveal? Certainly not the pristine, sanitized rooms we present to the world! Editor: I find myself more drawn to the symbolism here. The prominent keyhole design is flanked by ornate figures—part human, part vegetal flourish—and cradled within symmetrical, Baroque ornamentation. Curator: Those figures! Are they guardians, tricksters, reflections? They strike me as profoundly ambivalent—elegantly coiffed, yet wild in their posture, gazing inwards with suspicion or desire. What do they protect, I wonder? Editor: In the language of Baroque design, those figures are the visual anchors to that which society aimed to conceal. In psychoanalysis, this imagery can signal an effort to understand our most fundamental yearnings, and deepest-held secrets. Curator: It feels daring—or perhaps desperately hopeful—to render such complexity with such confidence. One gets the feeling Berain truly believed in ornament as a tool of psychological insight. Editor: Precisely. Ornament wasn't merely decorative in this era. It served as an elaborate language, speaking volumes about status, power, and underlying anxieties. It invited careful contemplation, urging viewers to reflect on what's visibly rendered versus hidden behind ornate complexity. Curator: It makes you wonder about all the keys that came before… the weight of our secrets piled high in these symbolic strongholds. It's not the prettiness that holds one's attention but the unspoken dialogue between viewer and object. Editor: Yes, and now, of course, our modern interpretations of Berain’s symbolism. Perhaps each period of spectatorship redefines it slightly, unlocking new layers each time? It certainly speaks to our own era, preoccupied as it is with surveillance, privacy, and access. Curator: So it does, so it does. I believe I shall carry that idea around with me for quite some time! Thank you.