Figures in a Piazza With Fountain Bound By Palaces, the Pavement of Diamond Design 1670

Curator: This is "Figures in a Piazza With Fountain Bound By Palaces, the Pavement of Diamond Design," an etching by Melchior Küsel, now housed in the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: Oh, it’s so delicately rendered! I feel the oppressive weight of all that architecture, yet there’s this breezy openness. It makes my head spin. Curator: Etchings like this were integral to disseminating architectural ideas, circulating designs, and influencing the tastes of patrons. Consider the labor involved, the precise hand of the engraver. Editor: Right, and look at those tiny figures! The scale is so interesting, dwarfed by their surroundings, like little puppets in a grand, pre-ordained play. Curator: Absolutely, it speaks to power, and maybe the constraints of the time. Editor: Makes you think about freedom, doesn’t it? Curator: It certainly does. Art as cultural and historical record is so important. Editor: A dizzying reminder of the worlds we inherit.