Optocht met kinderen en een kijkkast 1722 - 1781

Editor: This is "Optocht met kinderen en een kijkkast," a print made with ink, pen and engraving on paper by Jacques Bacheley sometime between 1722 and 1781. The two little scenes, bordered by decorative flourishes, feel whimsical. How do you interpret this work? Curator: It's fascinating how Bacheley captures these moments of leisure and spectacle within the Baroque context. Think about what these images reveal about power structures. We see here the ‘Parade de Foire’ and ‘La Curiosité’ – the fair parade and the curiosity, or peepshow. These are public entertainments, yes, but who controls access to them? Editor: So, it’s not just innocent fun? Curator: Precisely. Consider the perspective of a commoner in 18th-century France. Their access to culture, to spectacle, would have been highly regulated. The “Avec Privilege du Roy” inscribed beneath these images highlights that this spectacle occurs under the sanction of the crown, reinforcing a very top-down system. The visual presentation is also interesting, presenting this type of entertainment inside a decorative swirl; it is like a theater, everything has a certain pretense and an implied restriction. Editor: That’s a completely different reading than my initial reaction! I hadn’t considered the political implications at all. Curator: And what about the 'kijkkast', that curiosity box, promising wonders? It parallels, perhaps, how those in power presented a carefully constructed version of reality to the masses. The "curiosity" isn't just what’s *inside* the box, it's the entire controlled experience of viewing it. Editor: It gives me a lot to think about. I came in seeing playful images, and now I’m considering how access, power, and even "curiosity" were managed and controlled back then. Curator: Exactly. By situating art within its socio-historical frame, we begin to see how it operates within much larger conversations about identity and social agency.