Landschap met kalkoen after 1659

Curator: Looking at this rather stately fowl, we're viewing "Landschap met kalkoen", or "Landscape with Turkey", an engraving that an anonymous artist created sometime after 1659. The details are astounding given the medium. What are your immediate impressions? Editor: I’m struck by the meticulous labor. It's a single-hued world built from lines, etched to bring forth depth, texture, even a kind of weighty presence to this… turkey. It really emphasizes the engraver's craft. Curator: Absolutely. Beyond just technique, I see it reflecting ideas of exoticism. Back then, the turkey was still quite a novel creature in Europe. I mean, look at the formal name included in Latin on the plate, *Gallus Indicus*, or "Indian Chicken." It reveals its origins were misunderstood and suggests that Europeans saw it as this somewhat bizarre import. Editor: And "import" is the keyword here. Prints like this weren't just artistic endeavors; they were commodities themselves. Think about the paper source, the ink formulations, and the network of artisans involved. Each pull would require such dedicated labor! These images themselves traveled extensively, documenting this strange animal but also participating in the larger material culture and expanding trade networks of the time. Curator: True, that trade extended to symbolic meanings. Notice how the turkey's proud display of its feathers makes it almost peacock-like? To me, this image hints at vanity and ostentation, almost a cautionary symbol about imported wealth. The way it looms, contrasted with the minimal landscape backdrop, places emphasis on this…exotic symbol. Editor: A fascinating reading! To consider the printmaking process as a parallel to that "ostentation" that you observe--both displaying skill and contributing to larger systems of trade—allows us a more complete sense of its cultural meaning. Curator: Well, looking closely like this has made me see even further dimensions in what initially looked to be a straightforward animal depiction! Editor: For me, focusing on the work and dissemination highlights how art operates within a specific material and economic environment. It shifts the appreciation away from genius, perhaps, towards the craft itself.