Kelk voor muur van kerk before 1682

Curator: This engraving by Jean Lepautre, dating back to before 1682, presents a 'Chalice for the church wall'. I am immediately struck by how…grand and imposing it feels. Editor: That's it. Monumental! Lepautre masterfully manipulates perspective to create a sense of awe and, let's be honest, power. This isn’t just a chalice; it's a statement, a representation of the Church's authority made manifest through Baroque extravagance. I like how the sheer size and ornateness contrasting with the people beside it implies this is something more important. Curator: Precisely! And the delicate line work—especially when you consider it's a print, not a drawing—allows us to get completely lost in the details of the foliate ornaments and cherubic figures which dance around the vessel. It has the elegance of something ethereal even. Editor: It’s visually seductive, isn’t it? And that is exactly where Lepautre intends to put you, in this alluring realm of the senses, that seduction serves to underscore what some would claim is the false promise of redemption. Who needs equality when you have access to this type of sublime art. Curator: The figures placed around the Chalice gives you a great sense of the Baroque, where they could get very maximalist when depicting grand and religious subjects. It would almost overwhelm a painter! Editor: Exactly, the artist is attempting a baroque technique while at the same time reminding us that beauty, too, is historically constructed. Notice how its Baroque extravagance is inseparable from its social and political functions, reinforcing structures of hierarchy and exclusivity. It demands reverence, obedience, and perhaps…submission? Curator: That makes it a bit too cold doesn't it? I prefer seeing art in a positive way, trying to see its own perspective instead of its place of its history. Editor: Well sometimes understanding something means seeing both sides. Appreciating craft, the technique, is just not sufficient when there’s still questions like, who did the creation of such an enormous object serve, how was that enforced at the time, and who and what got sidelined? Curator: A complex object indeed. There's so much to unravel beyond its beautiful design! Editor: It shows a pastiche, almost comical reflection. I am seeing so many aspects when really analyzing the chalice in this way.