Twee voorstellingen van de Franse wreedheden, 1672 1673 - 1674

Curator: This engraving, known as "Twee voorstellingen van de Franse wreedheden, 1672," meaning Two Representations of French Cruelties, from 1673-1674, is currently held in the Rijksmuseum. It's a stark depiction of violence, an example of Baroque narrative art using print medium. Editor: Immediately, the density of detail strikes me. It's as if the horror is amplified by the sheer busyness of the scene, these tangled figures... a dark fever dream rendered in ink. Curator: The print medium itself plays a significant role here. The accessibility of prints at the time allowed for rapid dissemination of propagandistic imagery. Consider how this work, using accessible and mass-produced means, helped shape public opinion against the French during the Franco-Dutch War. Editor: So it’s crafted horror? Because it absolutely worked on me. Look at how the engraver contrasted the densely packed soldiers with the vulnerability of the violated bodies, those stark areas of raw terror in those victim's faces, how could anyone turn away unaffected? There is definitely no finesse here, only the blunt impact. Curator: Exactly. The relatively simple tools employed – the burin, the plate, the printing press – were instrumental in fueling the conflict and shaping the social landscape of the time. It blurs lines, doesn't it, between "high art" and simple manufacture, raising questions about value and purpose. What stories are we choosing to print, what statements do we want etched permanently on collective conscience? Editor: You can almost smell the acrid tang of acid, can’t you, in a printer’s shop of the time? It wasn’t an intellectual exercise, was it? These artisans would have been sweating as they replicated the terrible truths of that war in minute detail! I like that immediacy. I imagine that is how some of the soldiers felt as they were making history at the time. What they did with such detail and artistry, when the tools and process was crude, fascinates me the most. Curator: Precisely. Reflecting on this engraving encourages us to explore beyond the conventional boundaries of art appreciation. It connects artistry with historical events and material conditions. Editor: A rather unpleasant history… I will certainly leave the image with more respect for the message, however raw, and the impact of the artistic process that gives the work the voice it deserves.