't Gevoel, voorstelling gegraveerd op een Leicester-stoter 1586 - 1597

Editor: This engraving from the late 16th century, titled "'t Gevoel, voorstelling gegraveerd op een Leicester-stoter", presents an image on what looks like a coin or medal. There's a lone figure who appears deep in thought or melancholy. What strikes me is the sense of solitude captured in such a small space. What do you see in this piece, especially in terms of the symbols it employs? Curator: Indeed, the small scale is key; consider what it means to carry 'feeling' in your pocket. The image shows us a figure in the pose of melancholia, a posture linked to intellectual contemplation but also spiritual suffering during the Reformation. Note the hat, discarded. Head coverings signified status; their removal indicated a humbling, an interior distress. And look – a bundle of sticks or arrows lies nearby. Editor: Sticks or arrows? That’s interesting… I initially overlooked those. Does the presence of the sticks add a certain nuance to the overall message? Curator: They point towards the symbolism of unity and strength—perhaps hinting at a capacity to overcome even intense introspection. In iconography, such bundles often represent collective effort or a gathering of internal resources in times of distress. What does the word ‘gevoel’ or ‘feeling’ communicate to you, seeing all these visual cues together? Editor: Well, if the figure’s pose signals internal turmoil and the discarded hat indicates humility, but the bundle implies resilience, perhaps the piece presents feeling as a complex, multifaceted state, encompassing both suffering and the means to persevere. Thank you, I hadn’t noticed how rich a simple image can be. Curator: Exactly, it is fascinating how deeply these visual symbols resonate through history and culture. Each mark echoes within our cultural memory.