of lenses for eyeglasses. Beside it lay an open book. It looked really old.
“What is that?” Sophie asked.
“It is a first edition of the book of Descartes’s philosophical essays published in
1637 in which his famous Discourse on Method originally appeared, and one of my
most treasured possessions.”
“And the casket?”
“It holds an exclusive collection of lenses—or optical glass. They were polished
by the Dutch philosopher Spinoza sometime during the mid-1600s. They were ex-
tremely costly and are also among my most valued treasures.”
“I would probably understand better how valuable these things are if I knew
who Spinoza and Descartes were.”
“Of course. But first let us try to familiarize ourselves with the period they lived
in. Have a seat.”
They sat in the same places as before, Sophie in the big armchair and Alberto
Knox on the sofa. Between them was the coffee table with the book and the casket.
Alberto removed his wig and laid it on the writing desk.
“We are going to talk about the seventeenth century—or what we generally
refer to as the Baroque period.”
“The Baroque period? What a strange name.”
“The word ‘baroque’ comes from a word that was first used to describe a pearl
of irregular shape. Irregularity was typical of Baroque art, which was much richer in
highly contrastive forms than the plainer and more harmonious Renaissance art. The
seventeenth century was on the whole characterized by tensions between ir-
reconcilable contrasts. On the one hand there was the Renaissance’s unremitting
optimism—and on the other hand there were the many who sought the opposite ex-
treme in a life of religious seclusion and self-denial. Both in art and in real life, we
meet pompous and flamboyant forms of self-expression, while at the same time there
arose a monastic movement, turning away from the world.”
“Both proud palaces and remote monasteries, in other words.”
“Yes, you could certainly say that. One of the Baroque period’s favorite sayings
was the Latin expression ‘carpe diem’—‘seize the day.’ Another Latin expression that
was widely quoted was ‘memento mori,’ which means ‘Remember that you must die.’
In art, a painting could depict an extremely luxurious lifestyle, with a little skull
painted in one corner.
“In many senses, the Baroque period was characterized by vanity or affectation.
But at the same time a lot of people were concerned with the other side of the coin;
they were concerned with the ephemeral nature of things. That is, the fact that all the
beauty that surrounds us must one day perish.”
“It’s true. It is sad to realize that nothing lasts.”
“You think exactly as many people did in the seventeenth century. The Baroque
period was also an age of conflict in a political sense. Europe was ravaged by wars.
The worst was the Thirty Years’ War which raged over most of the continent from
1618 to 1648. In reality it was a series of wars which took a particular toll on
Germany. Not least as a result of the Thirty Years’ War,
France gradually became the dominant power in Europe.”
“What were the wars about?”
“To a great extent they were wars between Protestants and Catholics. But they
were also about political power.”
“More or less like in Lebanon.”
“Apart from wars, the seventeenth century was a time of great class differences.