Slagorde van het Franse leger achter de rivier de IJse, 1705 1705

Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the colours—the faded yellows and greens give it this quiet, antique aura, like a map you'd find tucked away in your grandfather's attic. The overall impression is gentle, despite, I assume, depicting some kind of military conflict? Editor: Precisely. This delicate watercolor is entitled "Slagorde van het Franse leger achter de rivier de IJse, 1705" – or, "Order of Battle of the French Army Behind the River IJse, 1705." It was created in that year by Samuel Du Ry de Champdoré. What's particularly striking to me is the use of landscape conventions to illustrate the positioning and potential strategies of forces at war. Curator: So it’s a strategic battle plan masquerading as a quaint watercolour landscape, isn't it? I'm finding myself questioning the symbolic function of such maps, particularly how these kinds of formalized visualizations have influenced our conception of war. Almost romantic, don't you think? The pastel palette subdues what would’ve surely been a violent situation. Editor: You've hit upon a core tension within these types of images: the juxtaposition of objective observation and subjective interpretation. The grid-like structuring of fields combined with the rendering of naturalistic features, like the river and the somewhat fantastical forest – it feels like a kind of visual rhetoric. The cultural weight shifts when something as chaotic as war gets depicted in such an orderly way. There’s a sense of control projected. Curator: Control and also, perhaps, inevitability? When the chaos is contained within neat, almost picturesque borders, doesn’t that take some of the sting out of the real human cost? Like looking at a beautifully rendered game board, where strategy and calculated risk-taking are emphasized over, say, mortality? Editor: That's a crucial observation. I would add that these artistic decisions could serve a propagandistic role too, emphasizing planning over suffering. Thank you for helping me think about this image in a richer way! Curator: Always a pleasure! Now, where is that attic? I suddenly need to find more maps!