Twee vrouwen met paneel c. 1660 - 1670

This etching by Nicolas Pierre Loir, made sometime in the 17th century, depicts two women holding up a panel. But look closer, and we start to see that the image is not a depiction of life but a commentary on the art world of the time. The print seems to be a design for an elaborate frame. Its iconography speaks to the function and status of art. The figures holding the central panel, the cherubic faces and the flaming urn, all suggest that the visual arts are a source of enlightenment and pleasure. Loir worked in France, where the Academy of Painting and Sculpture promoted the idea of the fine arts as a noble pursuit. We see the imprint of that here. Studying the archives of the Academy, we find that Loir was admitted as a full member in 1663. Only by investigating such institutional histories can we appreciate the social forces that shaped the art of the past.