Liefdesgedicht c. 1659

Editor: Here we have Gesina ter Borch's "Love Poem" from around 1659, a drawing in ink on paper and textile. It looks like a page torn from a journal or personal collection. What captures your attention most when you look at this piece? Curator: My gaze is immediately drawn to the act of writing itself – a symbolic representation of inner thoughts being translated into tangible form. Consider how radical it was for a woman at the time to not only be literate, but to commit her thoughts and feelings to paper. It challenges notions of female silence and domesticity. How might the text, though illegible to us now, function as a powerful icon of self-expression? Editor: That’s a great point. The act of writing as resistance, even. Do you see other symbols at play here? Curator: Indeed. Even the textile she's used is significant, embedding her lived experience into her artistic practice. Consider the use of “Liefdesgedicht”, which translates to “love poem”. Ask yourself what kind of statement she makes by including it as part of the drawing. What cultural narratives of romance and longing are being referenced or even subverted? And do you get a sense of her intimate world being rendered visible through text and textile combined? Editor: Absolutely. I hadn’t considered the subversion aspect so directly, but now I see that clearly. It’s amazing how much meaning can be extracted from something that appears so simple at first glance. Curator: It reveals how much cultural weight and how many encoded symbols are subtly embedded in everyday images. Each mark carries echoes of the past and resonates with our present understanding of self-expression and cultural memory. Editor: I’ll never look at a handwritten note the same way again! Curator: Nor will I. Every little drawing tells a story!