Het dierenrijk, is lieve jeugd, / Hier afgebeeld tot uwe vreugd, / Gij kunt gerust met hen verkeeren, / De wreedste zelfs zal u niet deeren 1848 - 1881

Curator: This print, titled "Het dierenrijk, is lieve jeugd, / Hier afgebeeld tot uwe vreugd, / Gij kunt gerust met hen verkeeren, / De wreedste zelfs zal u niet deeren" translates to “The animal kingdom is dear youth / pictured here for your joy, / you can mingle safely with them, / even the most ferocious won’t hurt you”. Created sometime between 1848 and 1881 by Lutkie & Cranenburg, it is held at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: What a delightful menagerie! Each creature is compartmentalized within its own square, and this orderly grid creates an unexpectedly calming visual rhythm. Curator: Indeed. Structurally, the repeated geometric forms against the off-white ground create a pattern, a sort of taxonomic architecture if you will. Note the consistency in the limited color palette – mostly ochre yellow, red, and indigo. The application is rudimentary yet deliberate, directing the eye and unifying the image. Editor: The colors themselves possess significance, certainly. The vibrant yellow of a lion or a monkey invokes qualities like power and knowledge, even as the minimal use of color implies simplification and control for a youthful audience. The animals become vehicles of larger ethical considerations. Curator: Precisely. And these colors, bound by firm contours, work to delineate each creature while underscoring the image’s two-dimensionality, a characteristic integral to printmaking as a medium. The flatness emphasizes the overall design, focusing our attention on how the images relate to one another, more than the mimetic qualities. Editor: It’s true; one cannot ignore that this imagery must have taught youngsters about far-off animal kingdoms. Through simple and idealized representations, this print delivers its meaning; these creatures may represent moral figures that were well known to children through folklore, like the fox or the lion. Each square invites a closer encounter and promotes imaginative interaction. Curator: And notice the deliberate labeling below each square; the application of written word combined with representational imagery completes the sign, in a semiotic sense. Language tethers image, which is a crucial operation, particularly within the didactic framework of the work. Editor: To sum up, the symbols here evoke a time when children might find delight in taming wild nature within the imagination, each color and contained shape working in harmony. Curator: From my viewpoint, the power rests in how structural economy manifests in complex semantic richness.