Marskramer door apen beroofd 1562 - 1667

Curator: Oh, the Rijksmuseum’s “Marskramer door apen beroofd” — that’s “The Peddler Robbed by Monkeys” – is quite the sight. Engraved sometime between 1562 and 1667, and associated with Pieter van der Heyden, it’s crammed with… well, let’s hear your immediate thoughts. Editor: Overwhelming! In the best possible way. My eyes dart everywhere; there's just so much frantic energy. And it’s mostly monochrome—all those grays make the scene feel dreamlike and slightly unnerving, don't you think? Like a fever dream of the marketplace. Curator: Precisely! A marketplace turned utterly upside down. What grabs me are those simian characters, utterly absorbed in their parody of human activity. You see them not just robbing the poor peddler, but playing instruments, mimicking daily tasks, seemingly building their own chaotic society on the ruins of commerce. It’s savage satire at its finest. Editor: Definitely savage. It reminds me of a grotesque ballet, everything rendered with this incredibly fine, almost obsessive detail. I'm drawn to think about the laborious process of engraving here, scratching away at that copperplate for what must have been an insane amount of time! The artisan’s hand mirroring the relentless activity of these little primates. Curator: Good eye! And it makes you think about distribution too, doesn't it? Prints were, after all, a more democratic art form, spread far and wide. Here, the meticulous work emphasizes the themes, maybe pointing to folly. The peddler, weighed down by his worldly goods, utterly undone by these creatures who don't understand the *value* of what they're looting. Editor: Absolutely. It challenges the hierarchy—who’s using whom here? The poor peddler exploited for his goods, yes, but simultaneously, the means of portraying and consuming this story is something that everyone gets. A visual morality tale for the masses, meticulously crafted for mass distribution. And look! Is that surrealism avant la lettre I see? Curator: You know, I wouldn’t disagree with you on that one. It has an odd timelessness to it, even beyond the blend of Renaissance and later sensibilities. There’s something deeply and permanently human being portrayed. It is just such a captivating tableau—almost dizzying! Editor: Dizzying but strangely comforting. All this chaos reminding us that well, chaos isn't exactly new. A piece about labor, consumption, and a little bit of anarchy. Curator: And a stark reminder of how often what we value… is just bananas to everyone else.