beÿ Brüssels (Brussels) 1638 - 1648

Editor: This is Wenceslaus Hollar's engraving of Brussels, made sometime between 1638 and 1648. It has a somber and fortified mood, and I wonder what the story is behind that walled cityscape. What do you see in this piece? Curator: This engraving allows us to consider how cities project power, and how that projection is interpreted, represented, and consumed by its inhabitants and by outsiders. Think about what it means to meticulously depict the fortifications of Brussels during a period of intense political and religious conflict. It wasn't merely a picturesque scene. It signified control, exclusion, and maybe even resistance. Editor: Resistance to what, exactly? Curator: Well, consider the historical context. This period witnessed the Thirty Years' War, and the rise of centralized states asserting their authority, sometimes brutally. The imposing walls, then, could represent Brussels’ defiance against external forces. But the engraving itself could also be a form of symbolic resistance. Hollar, as an artist, is choosing what to represent and how. Whose story is he telling? Editor: That’s interesting. It makes me think about how the act of creating this image, in and of itself, is a political statement. Curator: Precisely. Consider the lines, the details. Is Hollar glorifying military might, or subtly critiquing the societal divisions such fortifications represent? Perhaps both. These prints were circulated. What effect did they have on people who saw them? It prompts us to question what's being communicated, and what is being silenced. Editor: I hadn’t thought about the audience. Now, looking at it, I see how the act of depicting and disseminating these images had real consequences. I'll never look at cityscapes the same way again! Curator: Indeed! Art offers more than pretty pictures. It reflects power structures and shapes how we understand history.