Siervazen met putti 1721 - 1756

Curator: Immediately, I see opulence. What's your first impression of this print? Editor: Regal, perhaps, but burdened. The visual weight of these urns, crammed with detail, suggests an almost oppressive level of excess. Curator: That's a fitting description. What we're looking at is "Siervazen met putti," or ornamental vases with putti, a print made sometime between 1721 and 1756. Jeremias Wachsmuth designed and engraved these elaborate baroque objects. Editor: Baroque certainly sums it up. Look at the dynamism packed into the lines—cherubs, swirling foliage, and shell motifs practically leaping off the surface. I'm struck by the way classical idealism blends with almost grotesque ornamentalism. Curator: The cherubs, or putti, are a recurring symbol of innocence and divine love. The vases, in this context, might represent vessels of earthly and spiritual richness. Does the presence of cherubs perhaps lessen the sense of burdened excess? Editor: To some extent, maybe. The cherubs, for me, however, offer a commentary on the exploitation of innocence, particularly when placed alongside what seems like such unbridled display of wealth and artistry. It reminds us that this sort of ornamentation often masked significant social inequalities. Curator: I appreciate that interpretation. These visual motifs have become entrenched in our collective consciousness, almost functioning as memory objects, holding and transmitting shared cultural values about status. Editor: Absolutely. And acknowledging how those values are constructed, maintained, and whose interests they ultimately serve is essential to our interaction with this piece today. Thanks for guiding us through this, shedding light on what the past speaks to the present. Curator: And thank you for helping to unpack its complicated messages, particularly concerning societal values surrounding innocence, power and class. It has definitely opened my eyes to alternative ways to understand these ornamental prints.