Grafmonumenten van de viceadmiraals Isaac Sweers en Abraham van der Hulst in de Oude Kerk te Amsterdam 1693 - 1694

Curator: This print, dating from 1693-94, depicts the “Grave Monuments of Vice Admirals Isaac Sweers and Abraham van der Hulst in the Old Church in Amsterdam.” Editor: The weight of legacy seems so palpable here. Look at how each monument is rendered with this heavy detail. Curator: Note how the iconography serves to elevate these admirals, associating them with virtue and valor. We have putti, and the armorial bearings so prominent on each composition. It speaks volumes about how societies choose to remember figures of power. Editor: Absolutely, but I’m drawn to how the engraving itself, likely printed on paper using ink, makes this memorialization accessible. The duplication of the monuments meant it could circulate widely; fame made available. The labor to make something like this is intense; this isn't a painting destined for some private viewing but an item produced and replicated. Curator: The strategic arrangement of symbols definitely projects a kind of power – almost intimidating, even in a printed form. One sees a skull at the bottom, for example, which clearly is included to represent mortality and as a kind of 'memento mori' that may point to both individual significance but the certainty of death. The artists remind viewers of larger existential contexts that are supposed to last beyond a life cut short during battle. Editor: Indeed. By considering printmaking as craft, we see the work not as simply illustrative, but as an agent participating in the construction of historical memory, bound to material processes and cultural production. Curator: And by remembering these histories and the many ways those have been commemorated, we can learn something valuable about our current moment. Editor: Definitely; there’s a richness found in that historical connection when viewing and understanding artwork through this kind of material lens.