Lente 1625 - 1630

Curator: Let’s turn our attention to "Lente," or "Spring," an engraving dating back to the 1625-1630 period, found here at the Rijksmuseum, by Daniël van den Bremden. Editor: What immediately strikes me is the texture achieved through engraving. The precision with which the artist has described the fabrics, foliage, and even the fur on the little dog, is truly impressive. Curator: It's a prime example of Baroque printmaking. You see this idyllic genre scene unfolds before us, portraying figures amidst a blossoming landscape. Considering its context, it speaks to the emerging bourgeois class and their desire for representations of leisurely, idealized country life. The contrast in clothing signifies the clear class separation as a child is pictured giving an offering to the couple. Editor: Yes, and note the materiality inherent in that offering: a basket brimming with what appear to be freshly picked spring blossoms. That speaks to cycles of production, cultivation, and display, doesn't it? The image romanticizes labor itself. I imagine this hung in a parlor as much for aesthetic enjoyment as it was as a kind of social affirmation. Curator: Precisely. It’s tempting to decode the symbolism. The blooming flowers, the attentive dog – symbols of loyalty and fertility – perhaps an allegory of the cycle of life, positioned within the gendered expectation for the couple. Editor: While the social standing and the implicit expectations were present, it also brings up some issues around representation, specifically, around who performs labor and who consumes its products and how class structures manifest through the land and the goods created from it. Curator: These prints provided access and encouraged very complex interactions, social and otherwise. This work does offer insight into the cultural values of the time, how nature and society intertwined. Editor: I agree. By centering on the object's production and social use, the materiality of the blossoms offered can allow us to engage in a broader social conversation.