Rokende boer met pijp 1696 - 1727

Curator: Matthijs Pool created this engraving, titled “Rokende boer met pijp,” sometime between 1696 and 1727. The Rijksmuseum holds this Dutch Golden Age print. It shows a peasant man smoking a pipe. Editor: My immediate feeling is that this is such a grim and knowing depiction. He’s slumped in a rather rickety chair and has this intense expression. The level of detail feels almost journalistic. Curator: Look closely at the inscription along the bottom. "Gloria Mundi, Fummus" circles the frame – which roughly translates to, "The glory of the world is smoke." I think the work grapples with notions of fleeting earthly power, depicting the transient nature of status and the ubiquity of mortality. The very act of smoking becomes a symbol. Editor: Absolutely, the pipe is an incredibly loaded image here. We know tobacco consumption was becoming widespread at the time, often associated with leisure, social gatherings, but it carries connotations of transience. Notice the ragged clothing and posture, contrasting so vividly with the almost arrogant expression. The composition also, by virtue of the oval frame and the peasant’s placement within it, evokes a mock portrait or even an ironic imperial seal. Curator: Exactly! Pool places this everyday figure within a visual language usually reserved for nobility or significant historical events, creating this biting social commentary. It could be seen as speaking to economic disparity within Dutch society, laying bare class struggles while the Golden Age painted pictures of wealth. Editor: It’s fascinating how Pool harnesses the symbolic power of visual tradition to offer what feels like a sharply critical observation of his time. He’s speaking of wealth but really signaling a sort of hollow decadence, perhaps hinting at social problems percolating beneath the surface. Curator: This work uses realism not just to mirror society but to actively interrogate it. It seems to say even glory dissipates like smoke. It definitely strikes me as a call to be mindful. Editor: Looking at how Pool uses such carefully rendered detail to speak on a grand scale, I find myself appreciating the artwork's commitment to confronting reality.