To Each His Own Pastime, "Elck Sijn Tijt-Verdrijff" 1632

Editor: This is Adriaen van de Venne's etching, "To Each His Own Pastime" from 1632. The scene, rendered in warm sanguine tones, has a theatrical quality to me. What do you see in this elaborate composition? Curator: Well, I see a powerful memento mori, a reminder of death woven into the fabric of daily life. Look at how the artist places a skeleton directly behind the elegant figures, seemingly dancing, and the objects strewn on the floor—cards, coins. Don't these imply the transience of earthly pleasures? What kind of echoes do you hear? Editor: Yes, the skeleton is a stark reminder. I suppose I'm thinking about those mirrors they're holding—what do those suggest to you? Are they just admiring themselves? Curator: Perhaps. But mirrors, throughout art history, often symbolize vanity or self-deception. What happens when we overly concern ourselves with superficial appearances and material wealth, instead of looking inside or outside to history, the broader world? Don't these figures seem somewhat oblivious to the decay surrounding them? Editor: I see what you mean. Their preoccupation with their reflections highlights a blindness to the bigger picture. It makes you wonder what aspects of our lives future generations might find frivolous. Curator: Precisely. This piece holds a mirror up to its own time, but it still asks timeless questions about human nature and cultural values. And those questions travel to us today and echo down to tomorrow. What will endure, and what is simply… pastime? Editor: I hadn’t considered the mirrors beyond simple vanity, so it is interesting to interpret them in this way, how they invite self-reflection but perhaps self-deception too! Curator: Indeed, Adriaen van de Venne is prompting a consideration about legacy. And in that moment, van de Venne has shaped another conversation across time.