Moord op Wirich von Daun, graaf van Falkenstein, 1598 1783 - 1795

Editor: So, this engraving, "Moord op Wirich von Daun, graaf van Falkenstein, 1598" by Reinier Vinkeles, made between 1783 and 1795… it's pretty brutal, isn’t it? What strikes me is the theatrical way the figures are posed, even amidst the violence. What do you see here? Curator: Indeed. Notice how Vinkeles, even in this smaller print, evokes a history – perhaps even an inherited trauma. The figures almost seem to reenact a past horror, as if caught in an endless loop. Look closely at the assassin’s posture, almost a dance of death. Does that pose remind you of anything? Editor: A little like baroque paintings, maybe? Dramatic and heightened? Curator: Precisely. The echoes are there, yet repurposed. The murder itself becomes a symbolic act. It brings into sharp focus anxieties about power, betrayal and mortality. The composition guides your eye in a circular fashion around the figures involved. The gaze bounces across to each character to fully capture their roles within the event. Editor: It's interesting how a single image can contain so much. It’s more than just the historical event itself. Curator: The choice of imagery becomes its own form of rhetoric, wouldn't you agree? It is a construction, laden with intent, designed to stir specific emotions. The landscape is sparse, but still suggests enclosure. Consider what psychological weight the choice of location bears within the event and, subsequently, in its retelling and reiteration through the imagery we are confronted with today. Editor: I never thought of it that way – as the symbols repeating themselves and influencing emotions in that cultural memory kind of way. Curator: These images continue to carry their history forward. Editor: This makes me look at engravings with new eyes. Curator: Indeed. An eye for historical symbolism!