Water (Aqua) 1660 - 1698

Editor: So, here we have "Water (Aqua)," an engraving that's attributed to an anonymous artist, created sometime between 1660 and 1698. It's held at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. There's just so much going on! What catches your eye when you look at it? Curator: The layering of symbols, primarily. Notice the woman in the foreground with the snake? The snake is an ancient emblem of transformation, shedding its skin, reborn. Here, it is dipping into a vessel – perhaps representing purification. Editor: Interesting! I saw the snake and thought, well, danger. Curator: Indeed! Consider also what is hanging in the background on the left: dried fish, almost mummified, suggesting a turning away from the bounty of the sea, to instead showcase transformation and preservation. But consider what else “water” is associated with - rebirth. Now shift your attention towards the background - do you see a narrative unfolding? Editor: I do! People pulling a net from the water... it looks like maybe a royal couple standing nearby? A sailboat in the distance too. Curator: Exactly. Note how it juxtaposes industry and wealth with nature. The rulers presiding over it suggests dominion and control. Water supports trade and transportation, as the boat sailing downriver signals. The entire work is thus about contrasting life and death, and old order versus new order. But what new order is at stake here? Consider, as well, the many ways one can “capture” water…in nets, in boats, even as frozen ornamentation in the hair, clasped into the form of sea-creatures. It's more than just an illustration; it is trying to evoke the essence of Water in the human psyche. Editor: I never would have picked up on so many of those connections. It really changes how I see the image! It seemed like just a detailed scene at first glance, but I now see the interplay of those images working on a completely different symbolic level.