Study for an engraving of the Prodigal Son 1520

Curator: Okay, let's talk about Albrecht Durer's "Study for an engraving of the Prodigal Son," made around 1520 with pen and ink. Editor: It’s such a detailed drawing. The figure, the boars, the architecture in the back. It's overwhelming in a good way! What strikes you when you look at this? Curator: For me, it’s about labor. Dürer, known for his printmaking, wasn’t just an artist but an entrepreneur navigating the economics of the art market. This drawing, a study, is a step in a larger process—a process meant to disseminate ideas through a specific mode of production. How does its function as a study shape how we value the image itself, distinct from the final print? Editor: That’s a great point. It’s easy to see it as a beautiful drawing, but harder to think about the "means of production." Does that then change the intention and our experience with the drawing? Curator: Precisely! Consider the economic and social context: the printing press enabled widespread dissemination, influencing the artist's role, production, and profit from their work. The final prints would then carry connotations far removed from this singular handmade drawing that initiated this entire operation. The pen and ink sketch transforms, undergoing a metamorphosis where labor is split, a process of mass manufacturing begins, and a once handmade art piece gets multiplied endlessly. What labor divisions enabled a master to disseminate his singular craft in Renaissance society? How was Durer's social class shaping and enabling that process? Editor: It really reframes how I see Dürer. It's not just the beauty, it’s the whole workshop practice, all those levels of artistic work and the machinery that’s also involved in bringing the image to the people. That completely shifted my understanding! Curator: And think of the role the final consumer then played as it helped the Prodigal Son's narrative proliferate!