Maskerade van de Leidse studenten, 1865 (plaat 2) 1865

Curator: This drawing from 1865 by Jan Daniël Cornelis Carel Willem baron de Constant Rebecque is titled "Maskerade van de Leidse studenten, 1865 (plaat 2)." It seems to depict a historical procession of some kind, rendered in watercolor and ink on paper. Editor: My first impression is of a muted fairy tale, or a play. I see people in what appears to be medieval costumes…knights and perhaps even monks, though they're standing quite casually on the right. It almost looks like a sketch for a theatre production. Curator: Yes, that reading feels accurate to me. The artist adopts elements of medieval art—perhaps the heraldic motifs and the linear style—but translates them through a 19th-century lens, which softens the impact. There's an element of playful historical re-enactment, something performative about it all. Editor: The figures all look quite rigid. I wonder if it says anything about the way student identity was imagined, or perhaps imposed? We should look for evidence on what type of student activities took place then and if those involved had any say on it. Also, there is no female representation...what could that mean in the depiction of Dutch students at the time? Curator: Precisely, it invites a critical reading. It certainly wasn't depicting reality so much as projecting an idealised, all-male version of university tradition and medieval grandeur. There is also something incredibly strange and absurd about such a solemn procession in which figures are portrayed like puppets in the sand. This almost makes me see the artwork as a very specific sort of sarcastic jab, maybe with himself involved. Editor: The drawing’s very existence probably reinforces these traditional frameworks. Who does this ‘tradition’ include and exclude? And for what purpose? Thinking of our contemporary setting, artworks such as this one remind me of the structures we are subjected to. Perhaps not exactly the same but definitely resembling. Curator: The somewhat tentative lines of the drawing hint at the fragility of these projections. What remains in my mind is an ambiguous expression about constructed historical narratives, as melancholic and thought-provoking. Editor: I completely agree. I am mostly thinking about those structures we impose on each other without noticing.