Fontein, waterpompen en zonnewijzer after 1724

Curator: Looking at this print, it's all so meticulously rendered, but I feel a slight chill. Perhaps it’s the formal garden, or that rather stern figure next to what looks like a pump combined with a sundial. What does it conjure up for you? Editor: Well, my first impression is that of a carefully constructed performance, a scene frozen in time. The pump, the sundial… they seem like props in a theatrical production, speaking to themes of time and the manipulation of nature. The garden, in a way, is nature made symbolic. Curator: That’s spot on. Georg Lichtensteger created "Fountain, Water Pumps, and Sundial" sometime after 1724. It’s an engraving showcasing baroque garden design, held in the Rijksmuseum’s collection. The architectural elements meld with the landscape so seamlessly... or perhaps, not so seamlessly. It strikes me as intentionally contrived, very deliberate. Editor: Indeed. Water, in this era, had immense symbolic value, right? It could signify purification, life, renewal, but also power and control. Here, it seems the control aspect is emphasised by the pump, dominating the natural source, the way humans can manage even such a basic need, measured by time on the face of a sundial. The figure stands guard, orchestrating the entire display, commanding the flow, if you will. Curator: I’m thinking about how sundials, even those coupled with fountains, are inherently symbolic of mortality, fleeting time… I think it would almost be impossible to avoid those kinds of meditations given this era’s awareness and fixation on its vanities and temporality. Yet here we see this kind of human mastery. Editor: Yes! The garden is the ultimate symbolic space – controlled nature is a reminder of our ambitions to become more than temporary. The very act of measuring time and pumping water in this contrived setting points to mankind’s desires. A complex combination of cultural memories and psychological insights there I'd say. The architecture itself has always spoken to humanity's hope of immortality... I love the contradictions at work here. Curator: I concur entirely. Gazing at it has revealed how much is conveyed by even just ink on paper: the passage of time, human aspiration, control over the natural world, our ambitions as creatures constantly pushing beyond the veil. It is really quite potent.