Kruis met bloemen en een lint met de tekst 'Christ has risen' 1860 - 1900

Editor: We’re looking at “Kruis met bloemen en een lint met de tekst 'Christ has risen',” a mixed-media piece, including photography, dating from sometime between 1860 and 1900. I’m struck by how delicate it feels, like a preserved memory. All those faded colors. What speaks to you most about this work? Curator: It whispers of remembrance, doesn’t it? I see a Victorian sentimentality, a desire to hold onto what’s fleeting – life, faith, beauty. Notice how the real flowers blend with the photograph, blurring the line between reality and representation. The cross isn't stark or severe, it is softened by blooms. The text ‘Christ has risen’ suggests less a triumphant shout and more a gentle, hopeful echo. What kind of narrative do you think it's trying to convey, or to whom? Editor: Maybe it's meant for private devotion, a memorial in a family album? A little, personal declaration of faith, rather than something public. Curator: Exactly! A tangible prayer. Or perhaps even a coded message – in the language of flowers that Victorians so adored. Each blossom, each color, imbued with a hidden meaning. This feels so incredibly intimate and I like that it is not particularly skilled, adding authenticity to it, like a faded valentine. It makes me wonder what secrets it held for its original owner… What about you, any change of perspective? Editor: I definitely see it differently now – less a simple religious image, and more a complex layering of belief, memory, and even secret language. The fading makes it all the more poignant.