Artilleriewerkplaats c. 1589 - 1593

Curator: Ah, this print, “Artilleriewerkplaats” by Philips Galle, dating back to around 1589-1593, always sparks such complex feelings within me. The Rijksmuseum holds it, doesn't it? There’s a certain cold beauty to it. Editor: Yes, and "cold" is a perfect first impression. There's a sense of calculated industry at play. Look at how meticulously rendered each figure is, each action, the sheer labor visible. The wheel mechanism to the left, the menial arrangement of making and casting cannonballs: it really speaks to the industrialization of warfare itself. Curator: Exactly! It’s more than just a workshop scene. It’s an almost alchemical theatre of transformation. Matter is not inert; it is being relentlessly shaped, almost tortured, into these instruments of destruction. I find a strange poetry in the brutal practicality. What appears inorganic takes on, as you say, its life. I'm especially drawn to how close-up it feels; that immediacy draws us into an uncomfortable reality. Editor: Absolutely. It’s about extracting utility and exchange value from raw material—labor into production and that production then into trade and violence. This image feels hyperreal—an emphasis on the social order behind even this kind of early weapons manufacturing. Curator: There's this dance, isn't there, between craft and something deeply unsettling? Do we see this level of material precision as genius and design, or as cold technology divorced from moral intention? The figures almost appear as ants inside an enormous industrial machine—this really underscores my emotional unease viewing it. Editor: That duality resonates so well. Galle highlights how processes rely on human agency, on a multitude of unseen labor activities, yet the effect transcends its origins. These activities begin with fire and then morph into a terrible image of destructive force! Curator: Right! You pinpoint it exactly: a dance from creation to what seems like infernal consumption. Each time I gaze into this detailed print, I question what propels us. Editor: Well put! Ultimately, it's the convergence of intention, matter, and collective undertaking that define these scenes. And isn't it fitting that prints help extend access to the very imagery of labor and violence, transforming consumption as well?