Veldslag van Alexander de Grote en Poros (plaat 3) 1717

Editor: So, this engraving, "Veldslag van Alexander de Grote en Poros" created around 1717 by Bernard Picart depicts the Battle of the Hydaspes. I'm struck by the intense drama but also how it feels almost staged. What jumps out at you when you look at it? Curator: The engraving captures more than just the historical battle; it captures the clash of civilizations and philosophies. The symbols are practically bursting from the composition: the fallen elephant represents Eastern power brought down, juxtaposed with the emerging, 'rational' order of Alexander's Greece as implied by the orderly lines of men with their spears in the distance. Editor: I hadn't considered the elephant quite that way. So you're saying it's about more than just military conquest? Curator: Absolutely. Picart, likely consciously, or perhaps subconsciously, placed familiar iconography within an entirely new symbolic order. It evokes deeper questions about the nature of power and the narrative that surrounds conquerors. Alexander wasn’t simply a military leader, he becomes a symbol. What message is embedded for the people looking at it then, versus now? Editor: It makes me wonder about how our perception of 'heroes' changes over time and who controls those narratives. The text at the bottom seems to echo this concept. "True valor is always invincible"... Curator: Indeed. It speaks to a human desire to imbue events with deeper meaning and to remember and pass these images through history as memory and knowledge. Editor: Thinking about it, this engraving serves almost like a historical meme, distilling complex events into readily understandable symbols for the cultural understanding of the viewers at the time and today. Curator: Precisely. The genius is that, centuries later, we are still actively decoding these embedded visual prompts to form knowledge, creating, even today, fresh readings that reveal aspects of our cultural psyche.