Het bed van parade, 1695 1695

Curator: Ah, “Het bed van parade,” or “The parade bed,” a 1695 engraving by Romeyn de Hooghe, currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Immediately I think of something grand yet subtly macabre. It’s like peering into a dollhouse where everything is impeccably arranged, yet filled with silent witnesses and symbolic weights. Curator: Yes, and speaking of arrangements, note the incredible detail De Hooghe achieves through the engraving process, capturing texture and light solely through line work on paper. It's fascinating to think of him meticulously etching the metal plate. Editor: The print betrays its mechanical production. Look at the sheer volume of these uniform garlands mounted to the walls. Each element of ornament has been thoroughly multiplied. It raises questions about value, labor and ultimately consumption. Curator: Indeed. Though it seems this bedroom isn't quite for resting, but rather for staged performance, for spectacle, reflecting the grandeur that royalty liked to portray during the Baroque. Consider the bed itself. It is raised up and visible for an audience. It also is quite literally "on parade." Editor: It is staged! Like a royal tableau vivant. Are these silent figures meant to stand as witnesses or consumers to such power? All these layers of luxury are a little too excessive for my taste. How did they even obtain the capital for such outrageous decoration? Curator: Perhaps we could also view the material luxury as reflecting the divine right of kings and queens, in a way their connection with something sacred made visible, through precious fabrics and ornamented trappings, even on display from their bedside! It is difficult to escape such ideas of power. Editor: Power certainly crafted its image here, by means of the engraver’s tools and access to an immense supply of material. It reminds us that luxury can easily tip over into gaudiness and the assertion of status is never without its own forms of exploitation. Curator: A perspective I appreciate, certainly! This artwork is like an entryway into a mindset, isn’t it? A moment captured and printed and circulated—ready for discourse, still, centuries later. Editor: And reminding us how artistic labor is entangled with the very fabrics of social structures. Thank you for guiding me into this mirrored room of production and power.