XII Foro Villiaco 1614

This engraving titled, "XII Foro Villiaco," was made by Roemer Visscher around the turn of the 17th century in the Netherlands and appears in a book. It depicts two hands holding a woven basket, the kind farmers used to winnow wheat. This act of separating the wheat from the chaff—the valuable from the worthless—is the key to understanding Visscher’s image. The text beside the image elaborates this metaphor. It suggests that in any large gathering of people, the least valuable are always revealed. This speaks to a hierarchical view of society, one that assumes worth can be easily determined. What’s so fascinating is how this imagery also resonates with contemporary concerns about social sorting and the ways in which certain groups are marginalized or deemed less valuable. It's unsettling to consider how these historical attitudes persist and are reflected in today’s social structures. As Visscher writes at the close of the text, “I ask the good people for whom the word Foro Villiaco sounds frightening in their ears, that they hold it to my best.”