Jacht op struisvogels 1582 - 1633

Editor: This is "Jacht op struisvogels," or "The Ostrich Hunt," by Philips Galle, made sometime between 1582 and 1633. It's a pen drawing currently held at the Rijksmuseum. It’s so incredibly detailed for such a small work! The hunt scene feels really dynamic and, well, rather violent. What cultural echoes do you pick up on here? Curator: Violence, yes, but I'm also struck by the imagery of domination and the exoticization of the 'other'. Notice how the hunters are equipped with shields, lances, and dogs; emblems of control and conquest, almost Roman in their attire. Meanwhile, the ostriches are rendered as objects of pursuit, not creatures with inherent worth. Doesn't the Latin inscription below suggest a link between plumage and honour, subtly legitimizing the hunt? Editor: That’s a really insightful observation. The association of honour with acquiring plumes... I hadn’t considered the ethics. Curator: Consider further: the hunt is taking place in a distinctly non-European landscape – a detail highlighted through exotic fauna like palm trees. This evokes a sense of foreign lands brought under European power. What psychological impact would that have had on the viewers of that period? Editor: Perhaps a reinforcement of a sense of European superiority, almost as if to suggest the natural world, including its creatures and perhaps by extension, people from those lands, are there for their taking. It's uncomfortable, but it makes me see how loaded this image could have been for its original audience. Curator: Precisely! Images speak volumes about a culture’s values and assumptions. So much is embedded in depictions of a hunt like this. And what appeared exotic and valuable then, may tell a very different story now. Editor: This really makes you think about how our values shape the way we interpret these older works. Thanks for opening my eyes to the layers of meaning hidden in the symbols.