Vers op de verovering van het eiland Funen, 1659 1659

Curator: Here before us, we have a printed piece entitled "Vers op de verovering van het eiland Funen, 1659," dating back to, well, 1659. It's an anonymous work, residing in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, created on paper with textile elements. Editor: It looks more like a broadside, the type they’d plaster all over the city! Stark. Like a dispatch of bad news after a bar brawl, everything’s been typeset, pummeled flat. Very matter-of-fact. Curator: Indeed, the medium here serves as both the canvas and the message itself. Notice how the typography, typical of the era, becomes part of the visual texture. The density of the text, almost claustrophobic, lends an urgency. Editor: Oh, “urgency” is spot on! It practically shouts at you! I bet you could hear it flapping down an alleyway. I imagine someone bellowing the words to passersby like a town crier hopped up on gin. I wish I could read the verse in Dutch… Curator: While we appreciate its immediate visceral impact, let's also examine the formal composition. The arrangement of text into dense columns reflects the prevailing aesthetic. Note how it affects readability and imbues the announcement with an almost authoritarian feel. Editor: Authoritarian! Now there's a formalist reading for ya! I see that; like a proclamation blasted on a war drum! Makes you wonder about the politics of typography. Were people wary about bold letters way back then? Like graffiti sprayed from some ideological ink pot… Curator: In this particular piece, we discern not just a historical document but also a self-conscious demonstration of early modern communication techniques at work. The clean impression, the sharp lines, even the material of the paper contribute. Editor: The textile component really sends me reeling, a textural dimension implying clothing, flags, something almost touchable emerging from all that language. I’m gonna go dream about it... it is haunting. Curator: Yes, it captures the anxieties of a particular moment in Dutch history with extraordinary acuity. Its texture and form amplify those tensions. Editor: Totally, those anxieties really made it, paradoxically, sing... Or scream. Good work text block!