Maria Malibran voor harp 1917

Editor: So, here we have Huib Luns's "Maria Malibran voor harp" from 1917, a pencil drawing currently at the Rijksmuseum. The figure almost seems to be emerging from the harp, her arms outstretched, and the overall mood is dreamlike. What do you see in this piece? Curator: Immediately, I'm drawn to the symbolic weight of the harp itself. Think about it – the harp as a bridge between the earthly and ethereal realms, music capable of invoking both joy and sorrow, a physical structure framing the female form. Note that Maria Malibran was an opera star and her image suggests a phoenix rising from the ashes; musical notes become tears. Do you feel that the strings suggest a sense of both captivity and liberation? Editor: I hadn’t thought about captivity...liberation because of the woman's pose. Curator: Look closer at the surrounding imagery. The doves, of course, universally represent peace and the soul, their whiteness reinforcing the notion of purity and ascension. Then you have almost spectral undertones. Taken together with the band across her eyes and upward stance, aren't they evoking a cultural memory of sacrifice? The imagery hints at divine power. It carries significant weight with universal archetypes such as light versus darkness, purity versus decay. Editor: That’s interesting... I focused more on the musical aspects, but seeing it as sacrifice gives the drawing much more depth. Curator: Exactly! And how powerful that Luns employs the harp, an instrument associated with the divine in many cultures, to frame this moment of, perhaps, transcendence. We learn so much about not only the individual represented, but the entire history of cultural memory. Editor: I see it now. Looking at this image as an intersection of symbolism, performance, and cultural memory really unlocks a new appreciation for it. Thanks!