Maskerade van de Leidse studenten, 1865 (plaat 11) 1865

Curator: This watercolour illustration, created in 1865 by Jan Daniël Cornelis Carel Willem baron de Constant Rebecque, depicts "Maskerade van de Leidse studenten, 1865 (plaat 11)". It’s such a stately procession, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: It strikes me as terribly serious! A line of rather glum-looking nobles on horseback, with trumpeters in tow…it has a certain restrained pageantry. Is this recreation of an historical event or purely academic? Curator: A bit of both, actually! It shows a masked parade of students in Leiden, likely reenacting a historical procession or ceremony. Look at the elaborate costumes! Editor: The costumes are fantastic, meticulously rendered – particularly the checked blanket on that one horse. It makes me wonder about the actual fabrics used. Were they reproductions of period textiles, or clever improvisations? Were those textiles acquired or created, and who was involved in that making process? Curator: I'd love to see them in motion; they almost feel alive. Rebecque’s choice of watercolor lends the piece a sort of ephemeral quality, don’t you think? Makes me feel like they are drifting on some parade into memory. Editor: Absolutely! The lightness of watercolour mimics the relative ease of crafting the illustration. Academic art often separated “fine” art from mere craft. I wonder if that informed Rebecque’s choice? Curator: Fascinating point. It makes you wonder if he saw it as something "lesser", despite its obvious artistry. Though, regardless, I love how the flat plane forces our attention onto the figures themselves and creates an uncanny sense of flatness. Editor: Right. It calls our attention to their making and construction as material things rather than simply the nobility of the depicted figures or "grandeur" of an historical parade. A material investigation like this really bridges "high" art and more ordinary making! Curator: A grand re-imagining, indeed! Thank you for helping to unpack what might first look like an unadorned pageant and reminding us that there is always something underneath the surface. Editor: My pleasure! Looking at the materiality offers such a different dimension for experiencing it, wouldn’t you say?