Vergadering in de Sala del Collegio 1610

Curator: Here we have "Vergadering in de Sala del Collegio," which translates to "Meeting in the Sala del Collegio," an engraving dating back to 1610, currently residing in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: My initial impression is one of remarkable detail, particularly considering it's an engraving. The sheer volume of figures meticulously rendered is quite something. Curator: Indeed, and what makes this work so compelling is the way it visualizes power and governance in early 17th-century Venice. This Sala del Collegio was the meeting place of the Venetian cabinet. Editor: It looks like a factory. All these powerful figures though still relying on clerks, sitting at their desk recording events and decisions. And look at the architecture, these flat planes, and linear lines defining spaces within the image! All produced, by the skilled hand, through calculated strokes of the engraver. What are these spaces referencing? Curator: The architecture, the ceiling paintings depicting Justice, Peace, Fame and other virtues are there to impress upon the viewer and the participants the gravity and significance of the Republic and the State affairs within. The whole space, and therefore the artwork, broadcasts civic virtue. Editor: All that grandeur seems a performance, almost. One has to consider the material cost, too. Not just the ink and paper, but the labour involved in such precise work. It reveals a culture obsessed with process, control, even in artistic representation. Curator: I see it more as the construction of an ideal, through the control you mention. A projected image of Venice as the bedrock of stability and good government, in a period rife with political upheaval elsewhere. This image then could travel, further strengthening this vision, and the place of Venice on the European stage. Editor: An idealistic assembly line then, producing an image of power for consumption, piece by piece. It really does change the feel, knowing about all that human labor involved in it. Curator: Knowing more about this history has given me a lot to reflect on in terms of what this image accomplished in Venetian history, a true accomplishment, if slightly propagandistic. Editor: The labour is so apparent. Looking closer has really made me reflect on all that goes into supposedly high art. It certainly disrupts the perception, it is something to consider.