Gy, kindren! die het spel bemind, / Leef vrolyk, lustig, welgezind; / Wild gy in zoete blydschap deelen, / Dan moet gy, spelend', niet krakeelen 1791 - 1812

Curator: This piece immediately draws me in—it feels like stepping into a playful, almost theatrical world, viewed through a slightly aged lens. There's a sense of contained energy, like a miniature stage bustling with stories. What's your impression? Editor: This is "Gy, kindren! die het spel bemind..." a drawing and print made with pen during the period of 1791 to 1812, and it is held at the Rijksmuseum. To me, this work by Jacobus Thompson feels like a precursor to modern comics. It presents little vignettes, snapshots of daily life, but within the rigid grid, they become imbued with deeper significance. Each one has a title. Curator: The use of line, the almost primitive simplicity, is what I find so charming. The lack of pretension, it invites you in without demanding anything in return. Do you notice the ways certain motifs repeat, reinforcing an underlying idea? Editor: Absolutely, look at how bodies are presented; bodies fighting, competing, swinging, working… These are representations of "play" and how individuals are educated by it. Children and adolescents, and always inside or right beside representations of buildings and domestic architecture. Curator: It speaks volumes about the relationship between individuals and architecture and the outside word. Editor: True, the relationship is very clear. In fact, in an historical framework of education, childhood itself and the relationship between individual and city space can be understood with such images. Look, we even get the name of the original publisher at the bottom... a bookseller on the Hoogstraat in Rotterdam! Curator: This image captures a time and place, preserving its history and spirit. What a pleasure that it ended up in the Rijksmuseum, almost a miracle considering it depicts a normal moment and activity of early European history! Editor: Exactly. It shows how history and cultural memory is a process we participate on together. So lovely and deep.