Gezicht op het Kartuizerklooster van Luik op de Mont Cornillon 1738 - 1744

Curator: The work before us is entitled "Gezicht op het Kartuizerklooster van Luik op de Mont Cornillon," or "View of the Carthusian Monastery of Liège on Mont Cornillon," created sometime between 1738 and 1744. Editor: What immediately strikes me is the incredible density of it all, a near mathematical application of detail rendered on what I presume is a small scale? Curator: Yes, this is a print, an engraving on paper. What the print offers is a carefully constructed overview—almost a symbolic map. Note the precise delineation of space. This speaks volumes about the desire for order, perhaps even a visual metaphor for spiritual order. Editor: Exactly! I’m captivated by the trees; all precisely the same shape and size, marshaled into these regimented rows. It's like a garden factory. The architecture also looks standardized. Do we know about the lives within that architecture? I’d imagine they contrast starkly with that external perfection. Curator: It is quite plausible! The Carthusians, as a monastic order, placed an enormous emphasis on solitude and contemplation. Each monk would have had their own cell within this complex, a space for work and prayer. Editor: And presumably this print was not made by a monk. How would an image like this have circulated, and what purpose would it have served for those outside the monastery walls? I imagine most viewers had very limited chances of even seeing this landscape for themselves! Curator: A fascinating point. Consider this image not just as a depiction of a real place, but also as a kind of idea of a place, one invested with associations of piety, learning, and withdrawal from the world. Perhaps, in owning a print like this, one might, in some small way, partake in that atmosphere. It’s cultural memory solidified into an aesthetic experience. Editor: And also consider the sheer labor involved! Someone meticulously carved those lines into a metal plate. It suggests value in repetition, both in the printmaking itself, and what the print conveys! A view from above which in itself hints at who possesses authority! Thanks to you I have new eyes! Curator: And thanks to you I am more informed about its tangible contexts! It highlights the limitations of either lens on its own!