Buisvormige relikwie uit de veertiende eeuw 1850 - 1900

Curator: Oh, this photograph is absolutely enchanting. What strikes you first about it? Editor: Curator: That quiet sheen... It’s like moonlight trapped in silver. What is it exactly? Curator: This gelatin-silver print, taken between 1850 and 1900 by Médéric Mieusement, showcases a fourteenth-century reliquary from the Musée de Cluny, Paris. Its title is “Buisvormige relikwie uit de veertiende eeuw.” Editor: So, it’s a photograph *of* a reliquary, not the reliquary itself. That context matters, doesn’t it? This act of photographic documentation highlights a desire to capture and share historical and religious artifacts with a wider audience. Consider the labor that goes into this image; sourcing and mixing the materials and chemicals needed to produce and develop such image. Curator: Indeed, Mieusement beautifully captures its delicate features. Notice the miniature figures standing guard, seemingly whispering secrets to the cylindrical container, topped with these spheres reminiscent of an abacus. I wonder what relics it might have once held and the lives it touched, now veiled in a century and more. There is something wonderfully evocative of faith. Editor: It really merges art and function. It raises questions about consumption, utility and preservation through material means. We see it only through this image; therefore, this photography is essential in creating social connection across periods in time. Curator: Mieusement wasn’t merely recording; there’s a reverence imbued within the frame. His use of romanticism pulls forth our nostalgia of something past, and the print itself acts like a new vessel carrying an old tale. Editor: So true. Thinking about materiality provides new depths to historical context! Thanks for bringing the piece and his process to light. Curator: And thank you for highlighting the image as an artform in itself, reflecting and refracting historical context.