Aftocht van de Spanjaarden uit Gent, 1576 c. 1576 - 1579

Curator: This engraving is titled *Aftocht van de Spanjaarden uit Gent, 1576,* or *Departure of the Spaniards from Ghent, 1576,* created around 1576-1579. Editor: It's amazing how much detail Hogenberg managed to cram into this small print. You really get a sense of the bustling activity, even the potential chaos of the Spanish withdrawal. Curator: The piece is teeming with figuration! Look at the receding lines of soldiers and the varied reactions of the citizenry. Do you see how Hogenberg employed line work to define depth? Editor: Definitely, but I'm more struck by how this image becomes a tool itself. A readily reproducible print that served to document and disseminate information about a pivotal event, the mutiny and subsequent expulsion. Think about the means of its production, the engraving process…it makes the event far more widespread. Curator: Indeed. The cityscape behind the receding Spanish army serves not merely as setting but as a symbol of civic pride and resilience. The people of Ghent reclaiming their space, both physically and metaphorically. What are your thoughts about the allegorical function? Editor: Allegory? I think it is about the immediate practical use of this print in Antwerp. As an object circulating within specific networks. What was the price point for broad distribution of a polemic related to these social upheavals? Curator: Interesting. For me the symbolic element of that waving flag at the very center carries such emotional weight, representing a shift in power dynamics. Also the way Hogenberg emphasizes perspective! Editor: For me it is the weight of paper and ink, a fugitive act giving form to propaganda and memory. Curator: Precisely! The work beautifully marries cultural symbolism with material reality, I am eager to examine similar treatments by Hogenberg. Editor: And I’m going to look more closely at who produced it, how it was distributed, and what it cost. Material, process, context!