Volle maan 1635 - 1688

Curator: This is "Volle maan" – "Full Moon" in Dutch – an engraving attributed to Claude Mellan, likely made sometime between 1635 and 1688. It’s part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection. Editor: It has a very serene quality, like looking at a meticulously detailed lunar map. There's a sense of awe but also incredible patience in the execution. It also feels a bit scientific. Curator: Indeed. Engravings like this were crucial for disseminating scientific observations. Mellan was renowned for his technical virtuosity. The stark contrast emphasizes the physical process: the controlled, repeated use of a tool to define shape and texture. The engraving medium here speaks to the meticulous effort required to map and understand the cosmos in that era. Editor: Absolutely. Knowing this was made so long ago amplifies the sense of connection across time. I imagine the artist poring over the moon night after night. To transfer such an elusive presence onto metal… that almost feels like alchemy. The human eye aided by instruments trying to know its world through direct interaction with physical material. Curator: And this interplay – observation, material, knowledge – drives much of art and science in the period. It's the transition between empirical knowledge and belief where "art" could encompass it all. And you can even detect a hint of vanity. Notice his name written at the lower bottom of the plate? The act of observation and reproduction meant something. It had an authorship to it. Editor: That human touch… You are right! Seeing the world from our perspective, capturing that "gaze." Yes, I was blinded for the general emotion I feel for the cosmos, so familiar and strange… But Mellan definitely wanted his art being related to science, an enlightened demonstration. Curator: The network between scientists, instruments-making artists, printers and patrons, was not as divided as it may be nowadays. But maybe we should be thankful for it... We've gained expertise and accuracy but also separation and hyper specialization. Editor: You make me think of the cosmos both expanding to infinitude, while getting deeper at quantum dimensions, but at a price. That original human desire to know what surrounded you as well as yourself seem blurry now, displaced by all our available mediated forms of observation. Curator: That’s why looking at prints like this—so embedded in their moment yet gazing far beyond—is like peering through a perfectly focused lens. Editor: It gives a real sense of scale.