Soldiers playing cards 

Editor: Here we have Carlo Maratti's "Soldiers Playing Cards," a pen, ink, and watercolor drawing housed at the Städel Museum. I'm struck by its dreamlike quality; the figures almost seem to be fading into the blue paper. What do you see in this piece? Curator: I see a fascinating meditation on leisure, labour, and chance. Playing cards, a seemingly frivolous act, becomes a powerful symbol when juxtaposed with the soldier's role. Think about what the suit of swords usually symbolizes and then, think about what that suit might mean in this context. Editor: So, it’s more than just downtime. It's commenting on their fate? Curator: Precisely! Cards introduce the element of unpredictable fate into the regimented lives of soldiers. They also suggest a microcosm of society—chance, strategy, and hierarchy playing out in miniature, mirroring the larger power dynamics they are caught within. Note the gaze of the figures behind. Editor: That’s interesting; they appear both present and detached from the game. Curator: Indeed. Are they ghosts of the future, onlookers burdened by the consequences of such choices? Or do they suggest cultural memory – how does this drawing participate in representing conflict? Consider its emotional, cultural, and psychological resonance across time. What stays the same? Editor: So much to unpack from what at first appeared to be a simple scene. The way those symbols and perspectives are woven together really transforms it. Curator: Exactly. We see layers of meaning embedded in what seems like a candid depiction of everyday life. And what initially feels like an image slowly disappearing off the paper slowly reappears. Editor: I’ll never look at a simple drawing of playing cards the same way again. Curator: Wonderful. The power of iconography lies precisely there: it invites us to see the deeper currents running beneath the surface of ordinary moments.