Wapen van de familie Van Beresteyn 1579

Curator: So, here we have Hendrick Goltzius's "Wapen van de familie Van Beresteyn," an engraving from 1579. What are your initial thoughts? Editor: It's striking! The detail achieved with just lines is incredible, especially in rendering the fur of the central figure. It feels symbolic, almost like a personal emblem. How would you interpret this work, especially from a material perspective? Curator: The means of production are central. Think about the labor involved in engraving—the skilled hand meticulously carving into a metal plate. It was a craft but functioned to reproduce images, shaping the Beresteyn family’s identity through mass dissemination. The choice of printmaking, its affordability, suggests something about their intended audience. Does that shift how you see the ‘symbolism’ now? Editor: Yes, it does! The accessibility of the print, contrasting with a unique painted coat-of-arms, suggests a wider claim to status and recognition, and impacts on its original purpose. Curator: Precisely. We often overlook the materiality of images and how it structures social relations. The scale, the print medium, all facilitated the creation of a family brand, a visual claim made available through a specific mode of production and circulation. Who would consume this, and how? These questions shape our understanding. Editor: That's fascinating! So, analyzing the physical attributes and its means of dissemination provides crucial context. It also leads me to believe that it might have even acted as an early version of marketing or something that could reach far and wide... Thank you for shifting my focus from pure symbolism to the socio-economic elements! Curator: Absolutely. It is too easy to just get distracted by who had access to create these objects but the labour involved and its material impacts really add a dimension that is worth studying further.