Man met een dolk en flauwgevallen vrouw in een vertrek 1776

Curator: This is "Man met een dolk en flauwgevallen vrouw in een vertrek" from 1776 by Reinier Vinkeles, an engraving—essentially lines etched into a plate and then printed. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum. What leaps out at you? Editor: Pure melodrama. The theatricality of it, the fainting, the dramatic pose with the dagger… it feels lifted straight from a stage play. The room, the characters are meticulously rendered with great attention to light and shadows and so you get this wonderful, delicate play of grays, almost monochromatic. Curator: Absolutely. Vinkeles excelled at narrative. You see it everywhere – that heightened tension, the explicit storytelling, and his devotion to genre painting with its narratives steeped in high drama, reflecting society’s tastes. But tell me, what does the materiality suggest to you? An engraving, printed...it evokes production, doesn’t it? Editor: Mass production, certainly, even if it's still relatively artisanal. It hints at wider distribution. Not just a unique, singular object but a designed thing replicated and sold, entering the homes of a burgeoning middle class wanting a bit of high culture but needing it portable and accessible. And, I find that map on the back to be fascinating…what does that signify? Curator: Isn't it wonderful? Vinkeles often incorporated cartographic elements. Perhaps an attempt to portray reason and learning collapsing in the face of passion—this ‘mapemonds plan’ in conflict with uncontrolled emotion. Or simply just more worldliness and intellect present. Editor: It does feel contradictory. The cold calculation of maps alongside such raw, overblown emotion, printed using industrial means to portray such domestic theatrics...It underlines how carefully constructed these narratives are; almost factory made. The 'drama' has been processed and designed before even seeing it. Curator: Yes, a commercial package! Still, for all the material calculation, it whispers secrets about its time. And, well, there are still all those intricate etched lines, evidence of artistry amid the mercantile world...it invites an intimate gaze too, somehow, I feel... Editor: Perhaps that paradox is the whole point: industry creates an art experience of the world, or at least, how they would wish you would see it! Alright, I have now lost my bearings, this print really messes with me!