De dwerg Cornutus Foxhornius als hoorndrager, 1720 1718 - 1720

Editor: We're looking at "The Dwarf Cornutus Foxhornius as a Cuckold" created around 1720 by Joost van Sassen. It's a print, an engraving actually, that features a caricature. I'm struck by the… weirdness, really. It's like something out of a bizarre dream. What do you make of it? Curator: Dreams… yes, dreams are whispers from the soul, and this engraving feels like a rather loud proclamation! The composition, the grotesque figure carrying another, is so wonderfully theatrical. It makes me think about those Baroque sensibilities that embraced the strange. Doesn’t it feel almost allegorical, a stage upon which someone is enacting an emotion for everyone to consider? And what is your first reaction to the cuckold here? Editor: Well, I think I mostly didn’t understand it! Why a dwarf? And why the…horns? I was too focused on the visual weirdness, not any story it could be telling. I didn't quite connect "horns" with being a cuckold. Curator: Precisely! The visual pun! The horns, symbols of cuckoldry, turn the figure into a comical spectacle, whilst someone else oversees them. The Baroque delighted in this melding of social commentary and fantastical imagery. We find this caricature simultaneously amusing and disquieting; Van Sassen’s way of mirroring our own anxieties. It’s wonderfully absurd. Don't you think? Editor: It definitely makes me rethink how I look at art from this period. I want to think more about symbolism. Thanks! Curator: And me: considering again, today, how art’s reflections speak loudly, or often whisper softly to invite us closer…