Januari c. 1560 - 1595

Editor: This is "Januari," an engraving by Julius Goltzius from around 1590, now at the Rijksmuseum. I'm immediately struck by how active and... chaotic it feels! So much going on in one small village scene, folks ice skating and someone even taking a tumble. How would you interpret this depiction of daily life? Curator: It’s a fascinating glimpse into the cultural and social history of the period. Notice how the engraving portrays the public sphere – the frozen waterway has become a space of leisure and interaction, hasn't it? The act of turning the mundane like winter into something aesthetic carries great political weight too, as it elevates the everyman's ordinary environment. Editor: That’s interesting! It almost feels like it is idealizing peasant life. Is it though? Because that slip on the ice looks a bit painful! Curator: Perhaps idealized in some ways, but it's more than just romanticizing peasant life. It’s important to see how the imagery functions within the larger context of Goltzius's production. Are there parallels to other "genre" paintings in Northern Europe at that time that reflect a shift toward the embrace of non-courtly narratives? Think of the power dynamics here: are we seeing simply what *is*, or are we seeing a politically calculated construction of the common life? Editor: That makes me consider it differently. I initially thought of it just as a scene of everyday life, but your questions make me consider that there is always power at play when an image is made, distributed, and consumed by an audience. Curator: Exactly. The artist may not have seen themselves as overtly making statements but the artistic practice is still deeply rooted in political and social consciousness. Editor: That is great to consider! It shows me how much an image from the past, like this one, can teach us about the social structure in place during its making. Thanks for helping me explore this engraving through that lens.