Gebergte van San Adrian in Biskaje 1694 - 1737

Curator: Here we have Pieter van den Berge's, "Gebergte van San Adrian in Biskaje" made sometime between 1694 and 1737. It is a watercolor and drawing on display here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Wow, talk about feeling small! The drawing has this way of dwarfing the people trekking through those mountains. It's like nature's giant flexing its muscles. Curator: Indeed. The composition emphasizes the immensity of the rock formations through a stark juxtaposition with the tiny figures traversing the landscape. It also illustrates humanity’s physical insignificance when set against the geological sublime. Editor: Geological sublime, love that! It’s more than just big rocks, right? The shading almost makes the stone look soft and pliable. Curator: Absolutely. Note the meticulous layering of watercolor washes and drawing. Van den Berge captures light and shadow, suggesting not just form, but also texture and atmospheric perspective, to emphasize depth and volume. Editor: So it is not just documenting, but also interpreting what it means to be in the space. Are the human figures of compositional significance? It almost feels like he’s placed them to balance the mass of the rock, a touch of humanness amidst all that stark stone. Curator: Exactly. Those human figures provide scale, yes, but they also act as visual anchors, leading the eye through the composition and subtly reinforcing a dynamic relationship between the micro and the macro. There’s tension between their relative presence, or absence. Editor: I get it now. Makes me feel the sheer, overwhelming weight of time etched into that rock. Curator: This speaks directly to the intent. These geological features are not just landscape, they’re temporal metaphors rendered skillfully on paper. Editor: You know, it is almost melancholic but in the grandest, most inspiring way possible! Curator: Precisely. A dialogue, perhaps, on art and nature.