Muzikant 1884

Curator: My first thought? Nostalgia. This Eberhard Cornelis Rahms piece, "Muzikant," dating back to 1884, really does capture the look and feel of bygone days with that lovely and talented rendering of that herald of days gone. Editor: I see that. There's something almost dreamlike about the soft shading and blurred edges he employed in its construction. He clearly reveled in Realism by using simple lines. It gives the piece such a timeless quality in the realm of Medieval works of this kind, especially for drawing, and considering the ink and pencil medium in his execution. Curator: And did you catch how Rahms rendered the figure? The man's posture as he plays—totally consumed, you know? Like the sound just poured out of him to create something almost musical. That Medieval fair, what a beautiful symphony. Editor: That horn and attire… it definitely takes me to courtly life in that past. More than just a pretty image, the trumpet he plays resonates. What's the melody behind his pose? The texture of the clothing even echoes those moments. It invites us to ponder our cultural memory when such calls-to-arms or even festive summonses took center stage. The figure almost jumps right out with each call he makes, don’t you think? Curator: Yes, I agree! With that ink, so richly utilized, Rahms gives us all a very full-throated blast into memory—evoking everything, good and bad, about a Medieval time capsule of daily life, if you can dig what I’m laying down? I certainly did when my eyes met. It certainly felt great as an artist with so much connection to such styles to see it. Editor: Yes. Perhaps by looking and engaging with these images, we're, on a basic human level, ensuring continuity itself by carrying forward visual seeds and resonating sounds with stories to remind us, through symbol and metaphor, and not always with complete accuracy, about what once was to reflect more honestly about what it all has to come. Curator: That's right. I see a way for all of us to have deeper engagement with what's still possible—at least through our work. That horn’s song has now touched us so deeply, so thoroughly. How can we create a new dawn on the foundation it laid. Editor: Let's use that memory and go even deeper… thank you, friend, I felt this too, a bit... in my soul.