Vintagers c. 16th century

Curator: This anonymous print, entitled "Vintagers," presents a scene of, shall we say, revelry. Editor: My first impression is a kind of exhausted decadence—a bacchanal in monochrome. The figures are draped and languid amidst what seems like classical ruins. Curator: The etching technique really emphasizes the textures – the rough stone, the fleshy bodies, the overflowing grapes. It makes me think about the labor involved in winemaking, the picking, the pressing... Editor: Yes, it's a study in contrasts, isn't it? This scene of leisure underpinned by so much unseen work. And there's something so vulnerable about the way the figures are arranged, almost as if they're hiding. Curator: Perhaps hiding from the dawn… or the realities of the labor that supports their pleasures. Editor: Maybe there’s no real escape from those realities, which makes this a pretty timeless image in my view. Curator: I concur. This piece offers a glimpse into pleasure and work, a reminder that one cannot exist without the other.