Tekstblad bij de prent van de vervolging der protestanten in Frankrijk na de herroeping van het Edict van Nantes, 1685-1686 1686 - 1699

Curator: My eyes are immediately drawn to the script; it is almost decorative! Is this piece of ephemera a song sheet? Editor: The Rijksmuseum attributes this to Romeyn de Hooghe. What we’re viewing is an engraved text sheet intended to accompany a print depicting the persecution of Protestants in France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. It’s dated to between 1686 and 1699. Curator: So, this text would have amplified the impact of the visual imagery. The combination aimed to elicit a strong emotional response. What symbols do you spot? Editor: Well, consider its baroque origins. The ornate typography evokes that era—but I cannot pretend to understand any of it! My emotional response is just of historical interest! The visual weight seems almost purely… informative. Curator: Perhaps this work aimed to solidify the viewers’ existing worldview—a baroque piece reinforcing established beliefs and prejudices of the day. Editor: Maybe! The Dutch were quite upset about what happened in France. What a cultural and theological cataclysm. What’s this script, exactly? Curator: It’s an early form of Dutch. As for imagery, look beyond the script. Think of what it evokes… Consider the themes: religious conflict, state persecution. This sheet offered viewers a structured way to interpret those events and find meaning within their own faith. Editor: Right. But look how *dense* it is—visually overwhelming, honestly. I keep thinking of information overload; of polemics and conflict, translated into text that demands to be studied rather than enjoyed. That sounds very Protestant, actually! Curator: Precisely! It mirrors that period’s emphasis on individual scriptural interpretation, reflecting a wider societal trend toward the printed word. Even in such troubling times! Editor: Well, thank goodness that particular era of textual oppression is in the rearview mirror. Ahem! Anyway. Anything else strike you? Curator: What endures most is its implicit testimony. An age defined by violent conflicts and intellectual revolutions echoes—preserved, not in a grand history, but this modest engraving. Editor: Yes. Even mundane objects—texts, pamphlets, broadsides—hold fragments of feelings, attitudes, and historical understanding that bigger objects never will. Thank goodness for museums!