Brillenwinkel c. 1598

Curator: Before us is Jan Collaert the Younger’s “Brillenwinkel,” created around 1598. It's currently held at the Rijksmuseum. What strikes you first about it? Editor: The texture! Look at how densely packed the image is. The meticulous cross-hatching in this engraving generates a very palpable atmospheric effect. And note how all the different textures really set the stage to depict a world undergoing dynamic economic changes. Curator: Precisely. Collaert gives us a street teeming with commerce; spectacle makers and booksellers. He renders a snapshot of societal reliance on developing industries. See the spectacles themselves? Their increasing necessity demonstrates expanding literacy and economic specialization during the period. Editor: Note how the arrangement in space of the spectacle-makers—it's almost musical! This systematic depiction gives form to how early science, the world of letters, and mercantile ingenuity start to overlap. I’m thinking of Benjamin's concept of optical consciousness emerging, here so precisely depicted. Curator: Consider, also, that images such as this weren't merely decorative; they served a promotional function, demonstrating wares and trade. This engraving not only shows an eyeglass shop but also propagates the utility, the new need for visual aids in daily life and expanding commerce! Collaert made engravings as advertisements! Editor: You can clearly feel the movement toward detail as representative of our visuality and expanding perspective. In many ways, "Brillenwinkel" really gives substance to these expanding commercial worlds of the renaissance. I'm very much compelled by the texture and density of the strokes here. Curator: It’s really something, capturing these specific trades impacting vision itself and how the creation of engravings reflects a cultural turn towards scientific, commercial, and social change. It mirrors the evolving worldview of the Renaissance! Editor: Yes. It also provides clues as to how engravings use light, tonality and visual language in representing these sweeping historical shifts and evolving trades and world-making systems.