Heidensche Goden en Godinnen 1761 - 1804

Editor: This engraving from between 1761 and 1804, titled "Heidensche Goden en Godinnen," or "Heathen Gods and Goddesses," at the Rijksmuseum, presents a collection of figures in individual boxes, almost like a comic strip. I’m struck by the simplified forms and how each deity is labeled. What symbolism do you find most prominent in this piece? Curator: The whole piece feels like a cultural catalogue, doesn’t it? It’s attempting to classify and understand these ‘pagan’ deities within a specific framework, likely influenced by the Enlightenment’s encyclopedic drive. Look at how the figures are rendered: each one carries attributes - emblems and iconographies that encode specific cultural meanings about their nature and their dominion. Consider Ceres, for example, holding stalks of wheat, her meaning made visually literal. Do you see any others? Editor: Yes, Jupiter with his eagle, Venus with Cupid… So the artist isn’t just depicting figures, but trying to capture essential attributes and easily recognizable symbols. It seems almost pedagogical, doesn’t it? Curator: Exactly. This is about distilling cultural memory into easily digestible visuals. Think about how these images would have functioned; perhaps as illustrations in books, aimed to instruct people about classical mythology, but also to define and confine their beliefs to the past. How does it feel to you? Editor: A little… reductive, I guess? As if the rich stories are being flattened into visual shorthand. But it does make me think about how we still use symbols today to communicate complex ideas quickly. Curator: Precisely! It reveals a continuous thread, connecting how humans have always visually represented and categorized the world around them. Editor: I see that, definitely! This simple print makes me think of all kinds of ways that imagery informs my current ideas and understandings of the world.