Divorce 1748

Editor: So, this is "Divorce," an ink drawing made by Paul Egell around 1748. It’s at the Städel Museum. It looks like a formal setting, and you can almost feel the tension in the room between the figures. What symbolic weight might Egell have been trying to convey here? Curator: A loaded question. Immediately, the crispness of the Baroque and Rococo eras contrasts with the fraught subject. Note how the rigid lines of the architecture box the scene and how the table acts as a physical and metaphorical barrier between the figures. Do you notice what’s atop the table? Editor: Yes, looks like some legal documents... Perhaps divorce papers? The woman looks passive, almost resigned. The man looks active, moving, involved with the documents... Curator: Precisely. This is not a depiction of love or affection; it’s a stark bureaucratic rendering. This is a legal and social rupture memorialized on paper. Legal documents have always held tremendous cultural significance. What feeling does the artist's choice of ink drawing rather than paint suggest to you? Editor: The lines feel so immediate and cold, devoid of warmth. A permanent record... It almost underscores the finality of the decision in ink, as though it's etched in stone. I also feel as though a lot has happened before that made their divorce possible, not so black-and-white! Curator: The starkness speaks to a societal shift toward recognizing, albeit cautiously, the individual over unbreakable familial bonds. It's the rise of modern individualism bumping against tradition and duty. I wonder, do you think Egell saw this as a tragedy, or as a liberation? Editor: Interesting question! It seems like Egell’s artwork encapsulates so much about the transition into modernity... Thanks, I'm finding myself looking at the ink differently now. Curator: As am I! This dialogue has shed new light on what was familiar!