Allegorie op de meetkunde 1782

Curator: Here, in the Rijksmuseum, we have "Allegory on Geometry," an engraving made around 1782 by François van Bleyswijck. My initial impression is that it’s quite dense. There's a lot happening, almost overwhelmingly so! It feels like a celebration, but of something… orderly? Editor: Indeed! Bleyswijck situates geometry as more than just a mathematical pursuit. We see classical figures enacting the allegory; these aren't simply characters but personifications of knowledge, power, and yes, colonial authority, especially considering the prominence of geographical surveys of distant lands displayed within the map in the artwork. Curator: Absolutely! The map is key. There’s an artist using perspective, drafting out space, knowledge, world order. How does this interplay with history, the very ground those maps cover, if that makes sense? What perspectives are silenced, and what is revealed? Editor: Silencing is the key point here! While celebrating rational, ordered, geometric, visual understanding, the engraving simultaneously covers the potential violence behind that act of rationalization of a space; that is the actual violence on occupied territories. The bodies themselves take on a particular charge because, within this historical moment, white bodies equal dominance. The geometry becomes complicit. Curator: Wow, so even though it's titled, "Allegory on Geometry", this piece reveals so much more about that period. I mean the details like those bodies and classical symbols! Editor: Right. In Baroque style—a lot going on with gender, class, and power relations. This work serves as a lens for questioning and historical realities hidden by visual language. Curator: Thank you for this different view. That perspective made a click in my mind. Editor: Indeed, that image is like a vortex of a new conversation with the artwork, which helps to see our world through all aspects in different times and dimensions.