Gekroond wapenschild gedragen door een hybride adelaar en een leeuw 1722

Editor: Here we have "Gekroond wapenschild gedragen door een hybride adelaar en een leeuw", a crowned coat of arms held by a hybrid eagle and a lion, created in 1722 by Bernard Picart. It’s currently held in the Rijksmuseum collection. This old engraving has an heraldic quality with the creatures seeming so proud and fierce. How would you interpret this work? Curator: You know, looking at this, I’m reminded of those grand, almost theatrical displays of power you’d find in royal courts. The hybrid creatures, a kind of fantasy beast cobbled together from recognizable parts, speaks to this ambition to appear beyond nature, elevated above the ordinary. It makes me wonder, doesn't it, about the stories we tell ourselves through symbols of authority. What does it mean to mash together the king of beasts with the king of the sky? What new myth do we create in that moment of artistic license? And for whom? Editor: So, it's less about literal representation and more about crafting an image of authority, of power that’s larger than life? Curator: Exactly. It's about aspirational branding. The details become crucial – the curve of a claw, the haughtiness in the creature’s gaze. This piece offers a fun mix of reverence and almost, a cartoonish boldness, like it is straight from the artist’s personal sketchbook, where, after all, imagination reigns supreme. You could lose yourself imagining that creative space! Editor: That's a perspective I hadn’t considered. Now I see it as more than just a historical document; it's a statement. Curator: And one laced with artistic whimsy! Perhaps Mr. Picart enjoyed creating a hybrid that perhaps winks at us from across the centuries! What do you think? Editor: It really makes me see the artwork in a different light. Thanks so much.