Slapende jongen 1815 - 1889

Curator: This print, "Slapende jongen," or "Sleeping Boy," is attributed to Jan Baptist Tetar van Elven and thought to be created sometime between 1815 and 1889. It’s currently held here at the Rijksmuseum. It's an engraving, so it offers this lovely, intricate level of detail, but what are your first impressions? Editor: Whimsy, definitely a sense of playful disturbance. There’s something very direct about the interruption of slumber, isn't there? And the stick—is she really poking him? I find my eyes drawn to that tiny act of defiance or mischief; it creates this delicious tension. Curator: Exactly. This is not a grand, romantic scene, but this intimate, almost anecdotal moment captured so delicately, I wonder what narrative threads lie there dormant with that young boy. Perhaps the girl is acting out her feelings... Editor: Maybe the symbolism lies in the rude awakening – a metaphor for lost innocence? Or perhaps it is far simpler. I am noticing that two other people seem to be looking out of the shrubbery behind them and I cannot help but wonder what their intentions or emotions are. What do you suppose those faces in the darkness symbolise? Curator: I like how you consider that those faces would symbolise intentions of emotions. I personally get the feeling the third person is concerned for the boy's well-being. However, their voyeuristic posture can not be ignored - as perhaps that is to what the girl may be responding by pranking the sleeping boy with the poking stick. The landscape is incredibly evocative as well, do you agree? It adds context, rooting it in time and place, as if the artist himself observed this from only meters away. Editor: The landscape indeed speaks of pastoral simplicity and nostalgia for a slower time. It’s interesting how it balances the overt action in the foreground – the sleepy boy and the poking stick. This also makes me think, what do you reckon is the relationship between the sleeping boy and the active, alert, mischievously postured girl. The gender dynamics at play... The girl is an interruption to his tranquility. In fact, is that the book underneath him? Does it symbolise any quest for knowledge he will unlikely seek out as long as his focus is sleeping rather than discovering and applying himself. Curator: I hadn't noticed the book – you’re right! Maybe he should dream instead – or is this the artist inviting us to question societal roles. It definitely holds that dual possibility you talk about of innocence or defiance. Van Elven manages to condense such layered narrative and emotion in one simple scene, and one simple choice that must now come back to this, those three, rather bizarre, characters, watching on behind the scene... What are they? Perhaps... an illusion to those things people dare to seek out as opposed to simply sleeping and ignoring the truths? Editor: It's an enchanting piece, this miniature drama unfolded with such intricate precision. Makes me contemplate the stories that might have been. Curator: Absolutely, the power of a single image to trigger so much thought... Makes one question the limits of representation, even!