Oranjelint 1725 - 1750

Curator: What catches my eye immediately is the material itself, a strip of textile, like a page torn from history… or perhaps, a secret message unraveling. Editor: Precisely. Here we have an object identified as "Oranjelint," created sometime between 1725 and 1750 by an anonymous artist. It's a mixed-media piece—a drawing on fabric, really—currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Curator: "Oranjelint"... The Orange Ribbon. Already, a spark of warmth and gentle pride. Tell me, does it sing to you of straightforward heraldry or something deeper woven into its threads? Editor: Undoubtedly, both are present. The ribbon is patterned with allegorical imagery relating to the House of Orange. The motifs are fairly repetitive—shields, trees, and orbs alongside the phrases "Vivat Oranje" and "Nu schynt hy klaar," but it is less about variety than what they signify through form and arrangement. Consider how each pictorial unit emphasizes the motifs themselves by keeping the spaces around them visually calm. Curator: I notice figures too! Small, almost hidden amidst the emblems. The colors are so gentle, the kind of palette found in well-loved children’s books, imparting that reassuring storybook feel. A banner to uplift, perhaps? Editor: The Dutch Golden Age saw so much incredible work being created that a small piece like this sometimes barely registers a blip in terms of its art historical legacy. Even still, its historical relevance in popular Dutch folk art provides insight and visual representation of allegorical sentiment, even propaganda from its period. I think its quiet beauty lies in the intimacy it offers in decoding national identity on an everyday object. Curator: I can imagine someone wearing this… or hanging it as a token of devotion, hope shimmering along each inch. Its fragility lends itself to an individual, emotional experience; like it should live wrapped around someone’s wrist as a secret and quiet devotion. What a journey this ribbon must have been on… what hands have held it? Editor: It makes one consider how everyday materials have borne witness to so many significant historical moments; that history isn't confined to monumental sculptures and formal portraits but is whispered in the threads of our daily lives. A lovely thought with which to leave our listeners.