Aanbidding door de koningen 1675

Editor: Here we have Pietro Aquila's 1675 engraving, "Adoration of the Kings." It has this hushed, reverent feeling. Everyone is gathered around Mary and the baby Jesus. What do you see in this piece, and how do you interpret it? Curator: What strikes me is how this Baroque print invites us to consider power dynamics within religious narratives. Consider who is represented and how: the Magi, rendered as mature, often racialized men, kneeling before the Madonna and Child. What commentary is being made, consciously or not, about authority, submission, and the gaze in 17th-century Italy? Editor: That’s interesting, I was mostly focused on the religious aspect of the scene! But I see what you mean. It's not just a straightforward depiction of adoration. Curator: Exactly! This work enters a conversation. Whose narratives are privileged in artistic depictions of religious subjects, and whose are marginalized or absent? Also, how are we, as viewers, implicated in these power dynamics? The engraving, intended for dissemination, further complicates these questions by spreading potentially controversial views. Does the print reinforce existing power structures, or subvert them through the implied narrative of racial reconciliation? Editor: I hadn't thought about the political implications of a religious image so directly. I will start considering such points in the future when analysing similar pieces. Curator: Remember, artworks, especially historical ones, are never neutral. Examining them through an intersectional lens allows us to understand the complex interplay of art, identity, and power.