Kaart van de provincie Utrecht (tweede deel van boven) after 1696

Editor: This is a section of "Kaart van de provincie Utrecht", made after 1696 by Thomas Doesburgh, a drawing using ink and etching. It feels very precise, almost sterile, but in a strangely comforting way. What do you make of this, beyond just a map? Curator: Beyond the practical… hmm. Imagine Doesburgh tracing these lines, each one a conscious decision, mapping not just land, but the very spirit of Utrecht. The precise details feel Baroque, right? A need to capture every nuance of the landscape. And those sweeping rivers – don’t they almost look like veins pumping life into the province? Editor: I see that. But why present a landscape with so much...detail? Curator: Perhaps a sense of ownership? Of understanding the lay of the land intimately. Consider also the rise of cartography in that era; mapping was power, knowledge, control. Think about how personal mapping is even now, on our phones. A record of where we’ve been, and maybe even where we're going, no? Doesburgh gives you his intimate feel for Utrecht. Editor: That makes sense. It's like he's saying, "This is *my* Utrecht, as I see it." And the way he draws it, almost like a portrait. Curator: Exactly! It’s an embrace, a very baroque embrace of a specific place in time. Editor: Wow, I came in thinking "old map", but now it feels almost like a love letter to a province. Curator: Isn't it lovely when art surprises us like that? Now, let's look at some of the individual linework...