Man en vrouw in omhelzing met achter hen een staande man 1629 - 1670

Editor: Here we have "Man en vrouw in omhelzing met achter hen een staande man," made sometime between 1629 and 1670 by Jacques Dassonville. It's a pen and ink drawing, and it has a strangely unsettling feel to it, almost like a dark, comedic scene. What strikes you when you look at it? Curator: It's interesting that you find it unsettling. I see a genre scene typical of the Dutch Golden Age. These works often depicted everyday life, but they were far from neutral. They were deeply embedded in social and moral commentary. How do you think the depiction of these figures contributes to any kind of commentary? Editor: I suppose their somewhat ragged clothing and the, shall we say, intimate embrace in public… it doesn’t strike me as idealized. Maybe it’s about the lower classes or questionable morals? Curator: Precisely. These scenes often functioned as moral lessons. The Dutch Republic, despite its economic prosperity, was wrestling with anxieties about social order and virtue. These kinds of images played a role in shaping public perception and reinforcing social norms. How do you see this kind of depiction fitting into the larger visual culture of the Dutch Golden Age? Editor: I guess I hadn’t thought about it as deliberately participating in that kind of dialogue. I always saw the Golden Age as portraits of wealthy merchants. Curator: And it was, partly, but even those portraits promoted an image of mercantile virtue. But there was another undercurrent of concern and this drawing probably tapped into it. This piece might be an attempt to subtly, perhaps even humorously, address social behaviors that were perceived as disruptive or immoral. It's a great reminder of how art isn't created in a vacuum. Editor: That's really opened my eyes. I'll definitely look at art from that period with a more critical eye.