Ontbinden van de kousenband 1740 - 1760

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to "Ontbinden van de kousenband," or "Untying the Garter," an engraving created sometime between 1740 and 1760 by Jan Caspar Philips. It’s currently part of the Rijksmuseum's collection. What strikes you about this scene? Editor: Well, immediately, I feel this…anticipation. A kind of hushed excitement, like the moment before a joke is told, or a secret shared. The candlelight really enhances that sense of clandestine play. Is someone about to be pranked or initiated into something? Curator: Perhaps both. Genre scenes like these became popular because they reflected evolving social mores—think of them as early reality shows reflecting and shaping perceptions of class, domesticity and power relations. Here we observe, not nobility, but probably merchant or professional classes and their leisure habits. Editor: Ah, I see it now—it does feel very staged, almost like actors posing. Which begs the question—is it titillating or satirical? Or can it be both? Is that garter a trophy, or is it merely symbolic, meant to tease about relationships and virtue in a safe way? I bet people then gossiped about engravings like these over their teacups and thought all sort of outrageous things. Curator: That is probably true. Remember that the circulation of images became quite widespread. These prints allowed social commentary to infiltrate new venues. Genre scenes especially permitted discussions on conduct under the guise of ‘art,’ although you’re quite right to assume they were interpreted in myriad, and perhaps unintended, ways. Consider the theatrical lighting here to heighten the drama. Editor: Absolutely. Look at how Philips manages to extract narrative richness and emotional resonance using stark lines in an entirely grayscale world. As an engraving, it is already working at multiple removes, documenting and dramatizing what was supposed to look ‘realistic’, though it certainly invites fictional interpretation and the opportunity to gossip around any detail in it! I think, if nothing else, this print confirms that even seemingly straightforward artworks contain multiple interpretive paths and possibilities. Curator: Yes, indeed, the layered, at times paradoxical nature of these types of art are revealed precisely through this close attention.