Vertrek van Karel II vanaf het strand van Scheveningen naar Engeland, 1660 1818 - 1876

Editor: Here we have "Departure of Charles II from the Beach at Scheveningen in 1660," an engraving created sometime between 1818 and 1876, currently held at the Rijksmuseum. It feels...expansive, like trying to capture an entire chapter of history in a single glance. All those figures... Curator, what catches your eye about this print? Curator: Ah, yes, an ocean of people, quite literally meeting the sea, a farewell teeming with unspoken expectations. It's interesting how Last chose to depict this pivotal moment not as a grand, theatrical scene, but with a sort of reserved formality, don't you think? It almost feels… melancholic, despite the hopeful occasion. Almost as if the beach knows it is the edge between then and what happens next...the uncertainty of tides. Does the starkness of the landscape contrast with your expectation of a 'hero's send-off' too? Editor: I see what you mean about the melancholy! I was expecting more pomp and circumstance, given it's a king departing. Maybe I've watched too many movies? Curator: Perhaps. But ponder this – it's a moment of transition, of precarious balance. The baroque flourish meets the stark landscape...Engraving can trick the eye to show this contrast so boldly. Every stroke carefully placing each grain of sand in relationship to the looming cliffs and crowded masses, Charles’ figure a pivot point, smaller somehow than expectations suggest. Don’t you wonder, standing here in front of it, did Last feel similarly about endings and beginnings, about sending out onto uncertain waves what one can never call back? Editor: So it’s not just about documenting history, but also reflecting on it? Curator: Exactly! It’s history filtered through a soul—Last's soul—pondering the bittersweet dance of farewells and forecasts. That’s what makes art endlessly engaging. What began as observation, perhaps became memory or harbinger...a feeling of resonance long after the ship sets sail! Editor: This has really changed how I see this piece. Thank you!