Gezelschap van vijf drinkende krijgslieden bij een haard 1850

Curator: Here we have Guillaume Joseph Vertommen’s "Company of Five Drinking Warriors by a Hearth," an etching dating back to 1850 and housed right here in the Rijksmuseum. What’s your initial read? Editor: Immediately, it feels…dim. Almost claustrophobic. The figures are gathered so tightly in this space, lit mostly by what I assume is the hearth, it has a certain intimacy to it, or perhaps a weariness, after a long day’s march, no doubt. It feels incredibly…grounded. Curator: That’s astute. Genre scenes like this were very popular in the mid-19th century. Artists were really turning their attention to the everyday lives of ordinary people, which signaled a broader shift in social consciousness, particularly with movements like realism gaining momentum. Art was meant to mirror society, capturing slices of life as they were, or as some hoped to see them represented. Editor: Mirroring society, maybe...but through whose eyes? These 'warriors', cozy with their tankards in their hideaway are probably romanticized versions, don’t you think? But still, I get a feeling of shared stories, that camaraderie built from shared danger or difficulty. You can almost hear their voices, slurred slightly by drink and exhaustion, telling tales both real and exaggerated. Curator: There's undoubtedly an element of romanticism here, shaping a narrative perhaps more palatable for a public keen on heroic imagery and sentimental tales, though Vertommen grounds the scene in realism, which gives it weight, an almost journalistic quality that suggests he is documenting an unadulterated observation, while elevating an historical one. He's inviting the viewer to step inside, not just observe but also partake, engage with these figures, and consider the times they are living in. Editor: Exactly, you’ve got to wonder about their context! Were they mercenaries? National soldiers? Or are they just role-playing, indulging in historical fantasy in a troubled time? And that darkness—it obscures more than it reveals, adding layers of uncertainty that I, as an observer, just can’t shake loose. A certain discomfort rises in the darkness; in this ‘slice of life’ as you call it. Curator: It leaves us, as present-day viewers, wrestling with more complex issues. "Company of Five Drinking Warriors" serves less as a transparent depiction and more as a point of entry into debates about memory, representation, and the shaping of historical and political narratives in art. Editor: And that’s exactly what makes this image stay with you! Cheers to that.