Liggende naakte vrouw, mogelijk Venus 1696

Curator: The artwork before us is entitled “Liggende naakte vrouw, mogelijk Venus”, or “Reclining Naked Woman, Possibly Venus,” and dates back to 1696. It is attributed to Hendrick van Beaumont. Editor: Well, that's quite a relaxed pose, isn’t it? And those shadows! There's a lovely, almost dreamy quality to it. Very sensual in a languid, almost upside-down kind of way. Curator: It’s done in pencil and charcoal, which lends itself to that softened quality. Notice how the artist uses the darker charcoal to define the drapery behind the figure. There is an attempt to recall the famous reclining Venus theme within the Baroque style which can be associated with the themes of beauty, love and desire, as well as feminine power. Editor: The light does a wonderful job of highlighting her form. Though it's a little unusual, the way the figure seems almost… suspended? There's a freedom to it, but also a vulnerability. Like a reverie. The charcoal really helps convey a tangible sense of weight, a feeling of plush softness in the folds of the drapery. Curator: I find myself dwelling on how the face, even with a somewhat indistinct expression, meets the gaze. It invites contemplation, rather than simply being a detached object of beauty. This contrasts sharply with standard depictions of the goddess. Editor: Interesting! Perhaps a conscious twist by van Beaumont to explore themes of objectification within classic mythology itself? To play with our expectations a little? I love when artists nudge us out of our comfort zones. There's a lot of character there and its placement encourages me to follow this woman's storyline within history-painting in a very contemporary way. Curator: Precisely! Van Beaumont employs these established symbols in unique ways and subverts them, encouraging us to reflect more critically on our established interpretations. Editor: It all comes down to interpretation, doesn't it? Seeing these very old works is also so valuable in a very relevant sense to me. The human impulse to find symbols never ends.