Vertrek van Willem III 1722 - 1784

Curator: This is a print entitled "Vertrek van Willem III," or "Departure of William III," created between 1722 and 1784 by Simon Fokke, and it’s currently held here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It feels delicate. Almost like a captured, hushed moment despite depicting a grand departure. The monochromatic lines lend a strange stillness to the implied movement. Curator: The process of engraving allows for incredible detail, and I think that delicate feeling comes from Fokke’s mastery of the technique. We're looking at an intaglio print, meaning the image is incised into a plate, likely copper in this case, then filled with ink and pressed onto paper. It’s fascinating how a reproducible medium, designed for wider distribution, can carry such nuance. You know, there’s also something radical in treating a political departure, usually bombastic and heroic, in such a landscape. Editor: Yes, exactly! It prompts questions about access, distribution, and who this image was truly intended for. Was it aimed at an elite circle who collected prints, or was it perhaps trying to influence a broader public opinion? I'm really interested in what papers would have been accessible or valued at this time and how they contributed to that end result. But, on a more evocative point...I'm stuck by the muted emotion in each person's figure, no visible agony nor elation... the people don't seem very impressed. It makes the historical departure feel commonplace or part of ritual. What are you thinking? Curator: I am drawn to your material analysis as well. As an artist myself, however, I feel the power here rests in its ambiguous temporality and those subdued emotions. Is it simply a record of an event, or something more symbolic? I look at the figures grouped closely together as the prince is ready to meet a different sort of destiny... I wonder about the quietude and what it tells us about Fokke's perspective, not necessarily of Prince William specifically, but maybe how they envisioned legacy. Editor: I see it very differently after considering that point. Focusing so closely on medium specificity maybe clouded the emotive atmosphere. Curator: Perhaps that's the beauty of this work; the medium brings history and material and that sense of place into something very personal to our interpretations of legacy. Editor: Yes, definitely! It is that convergence where history, process, and personal experience interlace! I'm left appreciating this on many different levels now.