Officers Playing Tric Trac 

Curator: Looking at this oil painting titled "Officers Playing Tric Trac," attributed to Willem Cornelisz Duyster, what captures your eye initially? Editor: The interplay of light and shadow immediately strikes me. It's dim, almost claustrophobic, yet there's a focus on the textures of clothing and the faces of these figures gathered around the game. I'm interested in what that tabletop might be made of. Curator: Exactly. Considering its portrayal of officers engaging in leisure, it inevitably invites questions about the power structures at play within 17th-century Dutch society. Who were these men, and what privileges did their roles afford them? This work intersects with studies of masculinity and social status in the Golden Age. Editor: Indeed. The materials employed – oil on presumably wood panel or canvas, were relatively accessible, but the skill involved in rendering fabric folds and facial expressions would suggest a considerable apprenticeship. It’s the kind of labor-intensive practice that denotes a particular social class itself. What kind of materials did those clothes consist of, what are the means of textile production from this era? Curator: Thinking more deeply, I’m reminded that even depictions of recreation were rarely neutral. Consider the game itself: Tric Trac, a form of backgammon. Its presence invites considerations of competition, chance, and strategic thinking - ideas mirrored in contemporary trade and political machinations. The image subtly upholds and celebrates societal structures. Editor: That reading resonates. And observing closely, the implements they use for smoking – those clay pipes, their very fragility underlines the transient nature of wealth and pleasure. I am always interested in who the local manufacturers were, what conditions people lived in and under what economy this tableau emerged from. Curator: I completely agree; focusing on the transient allows a deeper read. The dark interior might hint at broader narratives. We see them enjoying a moment, while larger sociopolitical concerns are excluded from this small stage. Editor: Thinking about the work as a tangible thing – canvas stretched, ground pigments mixed with oils, applied laboriously by hand… these processes tell us just as much about the world that enabled the work to come into being. Curator: I like how we can both engage with this scene through various means and end at somewhat compatible places. Editor: Agreed, viewing the same work using very different sets of concerns definitely can take the spectator into some unique, challenging places.