Stilleven met gevogelte 1740 - 1774

Editor: Here we have "Stilleven met gevogelte," created sometime between 1740 and 1774 by Pieter Anthony Wakkerdak. It’s an engraving – quite dark and still, I have to say. Makes me think of old kitchens and feasts, but…gone cold. What jumps out at you? Curator: It sings a memento mori to me – that lovely Baroque dance with mortality. What are these birds telling us? They’re arranged so carefully, draped over a stone ledge like jewels, or maybe casualties. There's this delicious tension, isn’t there, between beauty and…well, a bit of a bleak fate? Tell me, what’s your take on that stark lighting? Editor: The light is theatrical, isn’t it? Almost like a stage. It does make the scene more dramatic, highlighting the textures – the feathers, the stone... Why choose birds, though? Why this kind of still life? Curator: Ah, there's the question. I mean, birds historically carried loads of symbolic weight. Freedom, soul, messages from above, but here? Stripped of all that, perhaps. A little meditation on transience, the temporary nature of things. A reminder to savor that delicious meal – or avoid ending up as it, ha! What’s lingering with you? Editor: The contrast, definitely. This detailed depiction of lifeless birds makes you think about life and death simultaneously. Sort of unsettling but fascinating, especially considering the context of the era. Curator: Precisely! That tension, that visual push and pull – that's Baroque at its finest. It nudges you, makes you ponder. Maybe makes you a vegetarian. Or maybe, like me, just a little more aware.