Ridders van het Duitse Kruis, 1180 1781 - 1783

Curator: Jacobus Buys created this drawing, *Ridders van het Duitse Kruis, 1180,* between 1781 and 1783. It’s rendered in pen and ink, a lively sketch really. Editor: It's got a strange energy, hasn't it? There's almost a… flatness despite all the interior details. The way the light just washes over everyone… Curator: Indeed. Buys worked during a period that valued historical accuracy. This drawing reflects an interest in depicting a historical event, filtered through a late 18th-century sensibility, of course. What we're seeing is meant to represent knights of the Teutonic Order. Editor: And they're heavy with symbols, these characters aren't they? I suppose that's to drive home that message. Those stark black crosses demand attention, smack in the center of everything. Curator: Yes. It’s history-painting in service of the powerful families who sought justification and glorification through linking themselves with this martial, crusading past. What might appear historical is more to do with social commentary than the reality of events in 1180! Editor: Right, right. The costumes may appear 'accurate,' but the underlying message is rooted in Buys’ contemporary concerns about power and representation. I am so curious about the people reflected, if this reflects who he painted it for and who influenced its creation. Curator: And the swiftness of the lines in the sketch – the quick hatching creating form… It feels almost rebellious, like Buys couldn't quite bring himself to be reverent despite the commission. Editor: Or, the medium speaks to speed: pen and ink as means to power in commentary? It seems… deliberately unsteady? Like an idea forming, still unformed in some ways, even! Curator: Exactly, but consider how radical such ‘speed’ can be. When faced with those established structures, those noble claims… So it serves this sense of history as constructed. And yet here we are centuries later, still compelled by the image. Editor: Yes, thinking on its journey through time. Remarkable. Curator: Precisely, it reminds us that our understanding of history shifts. Each viewing adds to this artwork's tale, it now holds even our narrative.