Lente 1721 - 1771

Editor: So, this is "Lente," or Spring, an engraving by Jeremias Wachsmuth, dating from 1721 to 1771. It's incredibly detailed. There’s so much happening. What jumps out to you when you look at it? Curator: What immediately strikes me is the process and the socioeconomic context implied in the piece. This is an engraving, a *printed* image, made for distribution. Not a unique work, but something made using the reproducible labor of the engraver. How does its status as a print shape our understanding of its imagery and meaning, compared to, say, a painting only a wealthy patron could commission? Editor: That's an interesting point! It definitely broadens access. Were these types of prints commonly available? Curator: That's precisely it. Consider the intended consumer: likely, someone with enough disposable income to purchase art but perhaps not wealthy enough to commission an original painting. The act of printmaking here transforms art into a commodity. The very material and production situate this image within networks of trade and consumption, even democratization. Notice how finely detailed this is; it took enormous skill to make the original plate. The print makes that labor accessible in a way an oil painting doesn't. Editor: So it is not necessarily just *what* is depicted, but how that depiction was made and distributed that gives it so much meaning. What are your thoughts on the landscape? Curator: It’s vital in suggesting luxury and leisure as attainable ideals. That image of nature isn’t “pure,” but crafted, designed for leisurely enjoyment by a privileged class, and now made more broadly consumable via print. Does it give new resonance to the imagery knowing this print, in multiple copies, enters different social contexts? Editor: Definitely. It’s a view of springtime filtered through a very specific, materially-driven lens. I'll certainly be viewing prints with a new understanding now! Curator: Exactly. Focusing on process really opens up fresh lines of interpretation, doesn't it?