Sluitvignet met twee steuren 1893 - 1894

Editor: This is Gerrit Willem Dijsselhof’s ‘Sluitvignet met twee steuren,’ a woodcut printed sometime between 1893 and 1894. It's at the Rijksmuseum. There’s something hypnotic about the two sturgeons circling each other, so tightly wound they create a near-perfect geometric emblem. What story do you think this emblem tells? Curator: Well, emblems, you know, they’re never just pretty pictures, are they? They always whisper something more. Dijsselhof, ever the mystic, likely saw those sturgeons as more than just fish. Perhaps they represented duality, a mirrored dance of opposing forces—yin and yang, perhaps? It also could reference cyclical time, if the sturgeons are meant as Ouroboros. Editor: Ouroboros? Is that a...type of Sturgeon? Curator: Ah! A learning opportunity. The Ouroboros is a symbol representing eternity—a snake eating its own tail. Very popular in arts from this period. Editor: Ah, yes. I see. So this wasn't meant to close up the sale of fish at the market? Curator: Hardly! This symbol is so specific and clearly symbolic of the era's fascination with nature, mortality, and the interconnection of things. What do you make of the tight composition? Editor: Now that I look, there isn’t much negative space. Everything touches, curves… I think you’re right. The artist likely had duality in mind! They push/pull… It's all a dance, really! Curator: Exactly! The image has stuck with you, hasn’t it? Dijsselhof would have loved that, I think. The fact we’re still puzzling over his sturgeons. Editor: It’s definitely a different way to look at emblems, which can feel a bit formal at times!