Francesco I d'Este Displays Great Faculty in his Studies, from L'Idea di un Principe ed Eroe Cristiano in Francesco I d'Este, di Modena e Reggio Duca VIII [...] 1659

Curator: Ah, here we have Bartolomeo Fenice's 1659 engraving, "Francesco I d'Este Displays Great Faculty in his Studies," currently residing at the Metropolitan Museum. What are your initial thoughts on this scene? Editor: I'm immediately drawn to the contrast. It’s got this ordered, almost stage-like setting, but something about the lightness of the etching makes it feel strangely ephemeral. Like a half-remembered dream of courtly life. Curator: Absolutely! Fenice, of Fénis, as he's sometimes known, has really captured the…essence, I think, of this duke through implication. Look how strategically the accoutrements of learning, like that terrestrial globe, frame him. It whispers, "intelligence, power, and refined curiosity". But also, you sense the very human ambition lurking. Editor: The man himself seems rather dwarfed by all those symbols. The picture *within* the picture above his head, that struggle between man and sea monster - Neptune perhaps? That feels far more dramatic. And is that image hinting at how the actual Duke is more likely defined through conflict and the use of natural resources of the coast he possesses, rather than mere studiousness. This all plays well into how visual narratives become woven from multiple source points of material existence. The ink, the tools and then, inevitably, the patron… Curator: Intriguing point. This print is part of a larger series celebrating Francesco's virtuous qualities. Fenice walks a tightrope, acknowledging, perhaps subversively, that display of power IS performance... and PR, quite frankly. Yet, also conveying a kind of personal dignity to his position within a larger social setting! He, this engraver, almost allows his subject to shine. See how much space there is given to those waiting subjects... their clothing alone. Such effort, such textile work must've been required in just presenting for such meetings with The Duke! Editor: Indeed, even the blank wall is loaded with labor; each chair, curtain and wall requires work. What I see there are implications about an abundance of production methods. Look too at the sheer skill required for those meticulous cross-hatchings; so we must also note his, Fénice’s, contribution too; the unseen hours devoted by those hands crafting this image through sheer industry itself. A whole micro-economy comes flooding to life from one image! Curator: It’s almost dizzying. Considering this entire world constructed meticulously onto what... a copper plate, I think? Incredible. I leave this portrait both contemplating what really went on in those spaces, and what still lingers between those people now! Editor: Yes. Now I too find my curiosity about the economic relationships within that room as the lines linger with far more urgency...