Leeuw, staande vrouw, fontein en twee panters of luipaarden 1688 - 1698

Curator: Let’s take a look at this anonymous Dutch Baroque drawing from the late 17th century, entitled "Leeuw, staande vrouw, fontein en twee panters of luipaarden.” Quite a mouthful! What's your immediate reaction? Editor: Chaotic, but elegant. It's like a baroque mood board. I'm intrigued by the fountain. Is it silver? Who made it? And how did the exotic animals end up on the same sheet as this finely dressed lady? Curator: Ah, a practical mind! This isn't a scene depicting reality, but a study sheet of motifs. Think of it as a sourcebook page. Artists kept these for inspiration. The animals, fountain, and even the figure likely derive from pattern books. Editor: That makes sense! It’s all about access to designs and luxury commodities. And notice the fountain spigot, cleverly rendered as functional even within the drawing. The material process really comes to the foreground. What are we drinking from it? The dreams of empire? Curator: Maybe! There’s a wild, dreamlike quality, wouldn’t you agree? It's playful, a touch irreverent in its juxtaposition. The lion looks almost comical with its grimace! It’s like catching a glimpse of a bygone daydream about grandeur and beauty. Editor: And everything from the lady's silk gown to the metallic sheen on the fountain, rendered so delicately with watercolors, shows how wealth was both crafted and displayed. The means of making all these expensive items are embedded within the visual language. Curator: Precisely! The fountain as object versus the fountain as idea... there’s so much implied, a conversation between utility and aspiration. I wonder about the artist… their workshop, what other treasures they might have helped create! Editor: Me too. The very act of drawing becomes a form of material engagement. What’s depicted, the animals and ornate objects, speak of privilege, trade and even colonialism and violence; while how they are rendered reminds us that creativity itself is work, subject to markets and material conditions. Curator: This drawing, with its elegant chaos, whispers secrets of the time – the beauty, the excess, and the labor behind it all. Editor: Indeed, a perfect testament to how art can simultaneously reflect material realities and abstract fantasies.