Allegorie op het huwelijk 1721

Curator: Good morning. Let’s turn our attention to "Allegorie op het huwelijk," or "Allegory on Marriage," an engraving made by Jacob Folkema in 1721. It's currently housed right here at the Rijksmuseum. What’s your immediate sense of it? Editor: A very ordered, formal feeling. All the figures so deliberately placed. It reminds me of a theatrical stage. Does that make sense? Curator: It absolutely does. Think of it like this: marriage, in the early 18th century, was not just a private matter, it was a highly performative act, often steeped in political and economic considerations. Folkema, working in that Baroque tradition, certainly captured that public-facing element. Notice the heavenly assembly in the sky… Editor: Ah, yes, they are looking down on a landscape filled with classical figures enacting this ceremony! They're surrounded by such careful landscaping as well. The couple seem to be enacting something scripted; they are barely looking at each other. Curator: Precisely! The Roman gods in the clouds preside over this transaction, literally blessing the union. It reinforces that idea of marriage being divinely sanctioned. And that woman leading the bride forward – do you notice the figures walking with her are roped together? Editor: A rather explicit symbolic gesture – literally tied to tradition! All of these details feel like deliberate communication. Like a diagram almost. It isn’t attempting any emotional resonance for us. Curator: Not so much heart-on-sleeve stuff, you are right. This work highlights marriage as an essential social and political institution. Marriage creates alliances and perpetuates family lines. Those clouds are so full of history, too, literally full of ancestors bearing down to witness their descendant join with a partner to write the future. Editor: So it goes beyond individual happiness. Jacob Folkema’s print serves as an artifact—illustrating both a binding custom of social structure and the perceived order of its world at the time, from heaven down to earth. Looking closely at these figures’ gestures has broadened my understanding. Thank you! Curator: It's been my pleasure. A closer consideration certainly brings this elaborate and symbolic print into focus, doesn’t it?