Plate 32: Men with heraldic flags and horses from Overijssel and Utrecht marching in the funeral procession of Archduke Albert of Austria; from 'Pompa Funebris ... Alberti Pii' 1623

Curator: Let's turn our attention to this intricate print from 1623. The Metropolitan Museum houses this particular impression of "Plate 32," part of the "Pompa Funebris" series commemorating the funeral procession of Archduke Albert of Austria. It's the work of Cornelis Galle I, utilizing etching and engraving in mixed media on paper. Editor: Wow, just looking at it, I’m struck by the solemn dignity of the scene, and, of course, those vibrant horses are so playfully juxtaposed against the stark black robes of the mourners. They bring this heavy ceremonial thing unexpectedly to life. Curator: Absolutely. Observe the formal structure: galle masterfully balances linear precision with textural richness. The procession moves laterally across the composition, segmented into discrete groupings marked by those aforementioned heraldic flags. These signal provincial representation. Consider the semiotic weight of such ordered grief, transformed through carefully considered aesthetic decisions into an assertion of political stability. Editor: Mmm, political theatre. I get the controlled staging – everything carefully calibrated for maximum impact. But I still keep circling back to the horses and the costumes. The red lions of the flags! So symbolic but also so beautifully decorative; are these guys sad about the Duke, or secretly pumped that they get to wear such fantastic outfits? There is a real tension here between grief and spectacle. Curator: That tension is precisely what makes it so compelling. Think about the function of Baroque art—the integration of the observer into the drama, its appeal to pathos. Galle's artistic genius lay in knowing how to articulate a propaganda event through an emotional register. Editor: Right, but also maybe just liking to draw beautiful horses! It reminds me of being a kid drawing my boring neighborhood, but imagining it full of knights and dragons; I imagine there is something very satisfying about injecting life into dry commissions, giving yourself something lovely to actually draw. You make even death magnificent, eh? Curator: A point well taken. Now, if we consider the broader series… Editor: It's tough to turn away from those horses, so vibrant in the image! Ultimately I see now how Galle's decisions to balance the pomp and color are his own little way of paying tribute beyond just Archduke Albert himself: more like a shout-out to life as a whole! Curator: Yes. This image is more than just a document; it’s a sophisticated exploration of the space between representation and experience.