Illustratie voor 'Den Arbeid van Mars' van Allain Manesson Mallet 1672

Curator: At first glance, this feels like an oddly constructed page. Diagrams up top, chaotic battle scene at the bottom... Editor: Indeed. We are looking at "Illustration for 'Den Arbeid van Mars' by Allain Manesson Mallet," an engraving by Romeyn de Hooghe, dating back to 1672. What do you make of the engraving style, Curator? Curator: It's that incredibly precise line work that grabs me, typical of the period. And the division of labor to produce something like this! De Hooghe, and other skilled engravers like him, were integral in disseminating knowledge through these printed diagrams. They elevated a very reproducible method into high art. How do you read this image symbolically? Editor: Well, the obvious starting point is Mars, the Roman god of war. The violent clash of armies below surely alludes to Mars' domain, a whirlwind of conflict and dominance, echoing classic historical battles, with horses, figures, and billowing smoke rendered for impact. However, look at the geometric precision in the diagrams above! There is no real harmonious connection with the battlefield. I feel like the imagery conveys an attempt to tame or quantify something as volatile and destructive as war through mathematical structure. Curator: The means to understand a military endeavor of that scale relied heavily on calculations. Perhaps it symbolizes the scientific developments in ballistics and cartography being poured into early modern European warfare. There is real political work happening within this image; this printed document is actively implicated within contemporary production! Editor: Absolutely! I notice that tension between chaotic subject matter and formal, controlled rendering and printing processes. Even the smoke rising from the battlefield, although rendered with loose strokes, exists within a carefully considered composition on a rectangular format. Curator: I am inclined to reflect again upon what exactly went into producing the material of that print—how labor was split. Its material conditions provide important insights into production during the Baroque period. Editor: Ultimately, De Hooghe gives us a lasting vision of the cultural anxieties of 17th century militarization and the visual strategies developed to address this reality, a testament to how powerful symbolic depiction is even centuries later.