Weduwe 1694 - 1737

Curator: This engraving, known as "Weduwe," roughly translated to "Widow," is attributed to Pieter van den Berge, dating from around 1694 to 1737. The piece is currently held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My gut reaction? Sardonic. Dark humor etched in lines. I’m immediately drawn to that central figure of the widow; there’s something almost grotesquely comic about her presentation. Curator: The visual language employed throughout indeed suggests a critique of social mores through caricature. Notice how the lines accentuate her features, and observe her exaggerated mourning attire contrasted against the statuettes before her. Editor: Oh, the statuettes are brilliant! "Vera Pietas," and "Charitatis Comes" aren't they? True Piety accompanied by Charitable Love. So, piety is a staged performance, right? Berge is suggesting something deeply performative about grief and widowhood here. The woman's reaching gesture, it’s all a show for the man behind her. Curator: Precisely. Consider also the compositional arrangement, where the architecture and surrounding figures are meticulously rendered, yet the widow dominates the scene both in scale and intensity of detail. Editor: It’s like she's desperately clinging to the appearance of piety. And her face…it’s like a mask, slightly sinister even. The longer I look, the more uneasy I feel. But I love it. This tension is exquisite, and speaks to the anxiety over sincerity within 17th-century dutch society. Curator: One may appreciate the contrast between her actions and those virtues. Van den Berge incisively presents a narrative—a judgment on appearances versus reality. The engraving is formally constructed to emphasize that dichotomy. Editor: Right. And even with this detailed baroque styling there is this sort of playful touch to it all. The use of linear precision combined with the somewhat ridiculous composition feels both deliberate and delightfully provocative. Makes you think, doesn't it? And then maybe cringe. Curator: It certainly provides insight into the social and moral perceptions of the time. Editor: A sentiment darkly observed, meticulously rendered, and eternally relevant, I think. Makes you wonder what Berge was really saying with the widow’s story.