Wijding van bisschoppen en aartsbisschoppen 1722

Curator: Looking at this engraving, it feels very ordered, almost like a manual. Six panels depict successive moments in the consecration of bishops and archbishops. Editor: And somber. The monochrome, the repetition of figures… there’s a certain solemnity created by the materiality of the print itself, like an official record. Do you know who made this? Curator: This is “Wijding van bisschoppen en aartsbisschoppen,” or “Ordination of Bishops and Archbishops,” engraved by Bernard Picart in 1722. The original is housed here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: Right. So the lines are tools, then – they illustrate procedure, not necessarily expression. I'm thinking of the paper it’s printed on. Was this a luxury product? An act of piety through accessible reproduction? What labor was involved? Curator: Possibly both? Certainly, these garments – the mitres, the pallium, the rings and books being presented - carry enormous symbolic weight. Each gesture depicted here, like the presentation of the pastoral staff or the Gospel, represents a bestowal of power, spiritual authority rooted in tradition. Editor: The weight is interesting because it speaks to how symbols legitimized existing hierarchies of production. Those mitres had to be produced, blessed, consumed by a specific type of elite. I wonder what sort of viewership was expected and what Picart had to omit for the patrons who underwrote it. Curator: Perhaps Picart meant for a wider audience to view a codified set of rituals. Editor: So even in its precise execution, we might read something radical into this engraving about the social position of sacredness, as constructed through labor. Curator: Indeed. This artwork, seemingly straightforward in its depiction, really invites us to consider the layers of history, power, and belief embedded within. Editor: Well, considering Picart’s engraving, from its production process to its subject matter, has given me a deeper appreciation for the concrete and ideological weight such an image carries.