Embleem met Vrijheid en Mars 1724 - 1769

Curator: Look at this striking print, "Embleem met Vrijheid en Mars," made between 1724 and 1769 by Noach van der Meer I, here at the Rijksmuseum. What's your initial read? Editor: It feels...tense. A staged allegory. Look at the way every element is so meticulously delineated with these tiny marks. You can almost feel the copperplate's weight in the impression. Curator: Indeed. Van der Meer created this engraving to represent Freedom and Mars—the god of war—in symbolic union. See how Freedom, on the left, extends her hand to Mars? Above them, the all-seeing eye... loaded with symbolic implications. Editor: It's incredible to me that all of this intricate detail, all of this allegory, comes from the physical act of etching. What tools were involved? What sort of acid was employed? Look closely, you can almost feel the craftsman leaning over the plate... Curator: And beneath, a Latin inscription: "Cuncta haec tutabitur unus," meaning "One will protect all this." The single protector reinforces that promise, or perhaps a warning. Editor: But is it truly protection? Or control? Consider the economic system which this engraving was created. Who commissioned it? Whose interests does it really represent? The visual language is opulent, yet grounded in physical labour. Curator: That’s a fascinating way to put it. The figures, classical in style, embody specific ideas. Mars in his Roman armor, a shield nearby, freedom holding the staff. A history painting within a symbol, carefully packaged with the baroque botanical decorations framing it all. Editor: The act of engraving and printing... reproducing imagery and therefore ideas for broader consumption raises compelling questions about craft, social structures, and disseminating ideologies. Curator: Right. Images serve functions within the material world and leave their symbolic legacy too. Editor: Precisely. It makes you consider just how complex the seemingly simple act of creating images actually is.