The Song of Armin Mourning his Children, from James Macpherson's "Poetry of Ossian" 1816

Editor: This is Anne-Louis Girodet’s engraving, "The Song of Armin Mourning his Children". It’s quite small, but the emotion feels immense. What can you tell me about how it was made and why? Curator: The materiality of this print—the paper, the ink, the very lines etched to create this scene of mourning—speaks to a particular kind of consumption. Think about the market for Ossian-inspired imagery at the time. Editor: So, it's less about individual artistic expression and more about... meeting a demand? Curator: Precisely. The labor involved in producing multiple prints, the social context of Ossian's popularity, the materials themselves—they all shaped what Girodet created. Editor: That gives me a totally different perspective! It’s not just about grief, it's about production. Curator: Indeed. By focusing on the means, we see how art is embedded in broader systems of making and consuming.