Plato en Aristoteles 1658 - 1677

Editor: Here we have Wallerant Vaillant’s “Plato en Aristoteles,” made between 1658 and 1677. It’s currently held at the Rijksmuseum. It’s a charcoal drawing, which gives it this amazing smoky, almost dreamlike quality. There's a real weight to the figures, but also an ethereality... what do you make of it? Curator: Well, darling, isn't it delicious? You see those swirling charcoal lines and how they capture the very essence of thought? It’s as if Vaillant wasn’t just drawing Plato and Aristotle, but their ideas, their arguments. And have you noticed how Plato’s pointing upwards? A visionary, head in the clouds, as the saying goes...while Aristotle gestures downward, more grounded in earthly matters. Do you get a sense of their differing worldviews just from their stances? Editor: I do. Plato seems... lofty, almost dismissive. Aristotle looks far more reasonable, maybe even skeptical. Curator: Precisely! It's more than just a portrait; it's a visual debate. Vaillant isn’t merely showing us *what* they looked like, but *how* they thought. And look at those robes, the drapery practically vibrates with energy. I wonder, what was Vaillant trying to express in rendering the clothing with such intention? It almost becomes part of them…their philosophical armor. Editor: That’s something I wouldn’t have noticed. Now it seems like those robes and gestures mirror their ideologies… Thanks, I never would have seen that. Curator: My dear, that is what makes art so exciting, isn't it? We look, and we see echoes of ourselves. A bit of beauty, a bit of understanding. And we grow.