Gezicht op het vertrek van twee schepen 1708 - 1756

Editor: This watercolor painting, "Gezicht op het vertrek van twee schepen," dating from 1708 to 1756 and attributed to Martin Engelbrecht, features two ships departing. It’s housed here at the Rijksmuseum. It strikes me as quite detailed, almost like a meticulously documented scene. What visual stories do you see embedded within this image? Curator: Look at the plume of smoke and ask yourself "What can this symbolize?" The ships are the obvious focal point, promising trade and connection, of course, but the smoke? Could it be farewell shots? The power of trade is a complicated legacy that connects cultures, as represented by the ships juxtaposed with the foreign looking landscape to the right; while destruction looms in the background. Editor: I see what you mean! The fort with cannon suggests maybe there's danger involved in this supposed trade and prosperity, but I initially thought the image simply communicated exploration. The visual language almost feels deceptive now! Curator: Precisely! It’s important to consider what cultural memory is encoded here. Even the colors contribute; muted watercolor, colored pencil; all tools of a recorder. It is a depiction but an illustration or a scene – whose scene? A psychological snapshot! Editor: That makes sense. It shifts the entire meaning from a celebration to a careful observation with inherent judgement. Thank you, I'll definitely look for those cues in other Baroque landscape paintings too. Curator: Remember, the language of imagery is ever-evolving. Question what you know to see deeper and know the culture that built that knowledge.