Kippen en kalkoenen c. 1611 - 1732

Curator: Looking at this etching, titled "Kippen en kalkoenen"—Chickens and Turkeys—made sometime between 1611 and 1732 by Boëtius Adamsz. Bolswert, I can't help but think it radiates a quiet kind of domestic charm. What's your impression? Editor: Mmm, domestic, perhaps, but to me, it feels more like a tableau of symbolic life. Those turkeys, puffed up and almost self-important, are such interesting signifiers. They stand out sharply. Curator: I see what you mean. Bolswert captures the inherent... theater, I guess, in these animals. Look at the rooster strutting like he owns the place, entirely unfazed by the somewhat awkward elegance of the turkeys! Editor: Exactly! And the antlers hanging behind…a hunter lurking. Chickens represent fertility, sure, turkeys... abundance, obviously, but the pairing hints at cycles of life and the somewhat brutal reality of sustenance. Do you think it’s a simple genre scene, as we so easily assume? Curator: It does present itself rather plainly. Dutch Golden Age artists often found the extraordinary in the mundane. But I think that's also the real trick. To reveal layers upon layers through something seemingly so...ordinary. He certainly paid attention to detail with the texture of feathers using that etching technique. Editor: Texture, yes, a tactile illusion so vivid! Yet, the whole image almost has a memory-like quality. Like an afterimage in the collective mind... Do you get that? That hint of allegory just under the surface of daily life? Curator: Absolutely. It’s like a snapshot of Dutch life at that time, but infused with these deeper layers of meaning. It's all in these subtle compositions. Editor: So, more than barnyard antics! A small world containing big symbolic echoes. I will never think of turkey the same again! Curator: Right? Everyday moments turned into portals! It all goes to show that the deeper you dive, the more it reveals itself.