Flight into Egypt 1613

Editor: This is Hendrick Goudt’s "Flight into Egypt." It’s an incredibly dark print, full of blacks and deep shadows. What can you tell me about how the materials or production process informs its meaning? Curator: Consider the physical labor involved in etching this level of detail, the economic investment in the materials – copper, ink, paper – and how those costs might have shaped the audience for this work. Who could afford such a print? Editor: So the darkness isn't just aesthetic; it's about the economic realities of art production at the time? Curator: Precisely. The materiality directly impacts how the image functions within its social context, and influences its consumption. How does understanding this inform your experience of the artwork? Editor: I hadn't considered it that way before, but it definitely adds another layer of complexity to the narrative. Thanks. Curator: It shifts our focus from simple aesthetics to the economic factors and modes of production.