Plate 1: Young Woman Feeding her Infant, from Premier Livre de Sujets et Pastorales (First Book of Subjects and Pastorals) 1720 - 1772

Editor: This is Plate 1: Young Woman Feeding her Infant from Premier Livre de Sujets et Pastorales (First Book of Subjects and Pastorals), made by Gabriel Huquier between 1720 and 1772. It's an engraving. It's got a tender feeling. What jumps out at you? Curator: Well, focusing on the material aspects, let's consider the printmaking process. Engraving allowed for relatively mass production and dissemination of imagery, even if each print still required skilled labor. How does this influence our understanding of the image? Editor: I guess it means it was meant to be seen by lots of people? So, who were these prints for? Curator: Exactly. This image depicts a genre scene – domestic life. Consider who was consuming these images and what that says about societal values regarding labor, family, and the portrayal of idealized motherhood. Also, observe the raw materials: copper for the plate, paper, and ink. Editor: It is interesting to consider the paper as material, almost like sculpture, even if it appears 2-D. And thinking about it, this is Rococo, right? Weren’t they big on luxury and elaborate designs for wealthy patrons? Does the medium, engraving, clash with the style in some way, by making luxury accessible? Curator: An interesting point! How does the reproducibility afforded by engraving complicate the relationship between elite aesthetics and broader access? Does the relatively “democratic” availability of the image change how we understand its message and the role of such images within society? Editor: I hadn't really considered the role of production in shaping how we perceive even an image of something simple like a mother and child. Thank you, that gives me a lot to think about. Curator: And I’ve been reminded to consider not just the what, but the how, where, and for whom in my own considerations.