Vrouwelijke personificatie van Geografie op triomfwagen en werelddelen Amerika, Afrika, Azië en Europa 1648 - 1665

Editor: This engraving, made by Cornelis van Dalen the Younger between 1648 and 1665, is called "Female Personification of Geography on a Triumphal Chariot and Continents America, Africa, Asia, and Europe." I am immediately struck by how it depicts geography – the world, really – as a spectacle of conquest and dominion. What do you make of it? Curator: Considering it was made in the mid-17th century, the engraving's allegorical representation offers valuable insights into the material conditions and labor involved in map-making and trade. This wasn't just about intellectual curiosity; it was tied to very real processes of exploitation. Look at how the continents are arranged. Editor: Yes, Geography is enthroned on top, with what appears to be subjugated figures below. Are you suggesting that we examine it, not just for its artistic merits, but to reveal something about the means through which such images, and indeed geographical knowledge, were produced and consumed? Curator: Precisely. The “Geography” isn’t a neutral, objective representation. It’s a product of specific social, economic, and political forces. Who funded it? Who was the intended audience? These are material questions, key to interpreting the image's symbolism and its role in perpetuating a worldview. The allegorical style itself signifies luxury and power, which required certain workshops and labor. Editor: So, by focusing on the materiality of the print - the engraving process, the paper, the ink – we can unpack how this image actively participated in constructing a worldview that supported colonial expansion? Curator: Exactly! And furthermore, we reveal how definitions of "art" become means to mask those networks of support. We shift the focus from aesthetic value alone, to consider the wider systems of production and distribution within which this print existed. Editor: That is a very insightful perspective! It encourages one to consider how art actively shapes and reflects societal dynamics of production and consumption. Thank you! Curator: It was my pleasure; I leave with a broader consideration of those very values myself.