Composition 3

Een uitnemend Meester, insonderheydt in cleyne, subtile ende curieuse dingen
An excellent master, especially in small, subtle and intricate things
Jan Orlers, burgemeester of Leiden, 1641, about Gerrit Dou


The Dutch loved curtains
For practical reasons, because they protected precious paintings from the dust and light. But symbolically too, especially in their paintings, where they became symbols of revelation and illusion.
Revelation because they showed the artist’s interest in the world around them and their skill at depicting it.
Illusion because it showed how they blurred the boundaries between the real world and the image, conjuring up their constructions, seducing viewers with their skill and tricking their eye.
Gerrit Dou was the master of this technique, and this intricate work is an homage to his style.

A beautiful gold silk curtain, hanging with brass hooks from a vanishing brass rail, cascades down one side of the work, coaxing the light into the scene.
It is pulled back to reveal a glorious arrangement.
In a canal side house in Leiden perhaps. In late summer, where glorious roses and guelder lilies sit with bursting rose hips and berries that are well on their way.

But look closely at what is revealed, because like all good Dutch works, there’s more to read than just the staggering beauty. Some of the flowers look hot to the point of drooping. The hydrangeas hang their heads, rain-spotted. On the chiselled granite step that supports the urn, we see other mementoes of the fleeting nature of time. A rotting apple, a caterpillar, a skeletonised, browning leaf, a turtle shell and ancient books from a time gone by, a mirror to encourage us to reflect.

The curtain is pulled back on a precise moment when everything is on the turn, about to start fading. And age-old wisdom is revealed: great beauty is a transitory illusion, and time waits for no man.