Seks en alcohol smoren alle vroomheid 1604

Editor: This is "Seks en alcohol smoren alle vroomheid," or "Sex and alcohol stifle all piety," a 1604 etching by Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert, at the Rijksmuseum. It's…intense. There's a lot going on with these figures. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Indeed. It's a powerful piece, visually embodying a complex allegory. Note the central female figure, Piertas, representing Piety. See how she is being suffocated, strangled by Voluptuousness itself. That stifling might symbolize the societal struggle of the time. Editor: So, she’s literally being overwhelmed? Is that supposed to be symbolic of something specific from the period? Curator: Precisely. Coornhert was a moralist. Think about what the rising merchant class might have represented then, with its new wealth. Do you see what is smoldering atop the altar, now being abandoned, the flames extinguished by unchecked hedonism? That altar can stand for many cultural certainties. Editor: I do, now that you mention it! So, it is the loss of established religion and traditional values in the face of that excess. But is that demon whispering to the voluptuous figure? Curator: Perhaps. It might also signal the psychological dimension, those inner voices that lead one away from reason and towards intemperance. This engraving shows cultural memory and continuity but with a real punch, wouldn't you say? Editor: I see. It's a lot darker and more complicated than I initially realized. The symbolic layering adds so much depth! Curator: Indeed! What was initially, ostensibly visible and explicit now invites layered, informed consideration, yes?