Putto strooit bloemen over allegorische attributen 1751 - 1816

Curator: What strikes me immediately about this image is the overall lightness. Despite being a monochrome print, the artist creates such an airy, delicate scene. Editor: That's quite apt. This piece, titled "Putto strooit bloemen over allegorische attributen" or "Putto scattering flowers over allegorical attributes," is an engraving by Reinier Vinkeles, created sometime between 1751 and 1816. It resides in the Rijksmuseum collection. Let's delve deeper into these ‘allegorical attributes’. Curator: The combination of a putto—a cherubic figure—scattering flowers is interesting. It evokes feelings of innocence and maybe even a sense of divine blessing being bestowed upon… knowledge and power? I’m interpreting what I see arrayed below the figure as worldly achievements and pursuits. Editor: Precisely. Note the globe, the cannon, and the ecclesiastic’s mitre among other objects. Vinkeles masterfully employs Neoclassical visual language here. It speaks to the period's preoccupation with classifying the world—and its relationship with historical predecessors in this tradition. This was, after all, an era of revolution and great social upheaval. Curator: The production of this engraving, being reproducible in multiples, really democratized the symbolic messaging here. Were there any books the artist drew inspiration from? Editor: The proliferation of prints, which facilitated the exchange of these artistic and philosophical currents throughout society, cannot be overstated! One can think of it as analogous to memes spread widely over the internet. Curator: And by using engraving techniques and print, there’s an inherent replicability…allowing those artistic concepts to take root in the collective psyche. Thanks for opening my eyes to its meaning, even in something that looks simple! Editor: It shows how loaded every carefully placed element is, offering up insights into history’s symbolic and material landscape, for us to uncover even now.