Curatorial notes
Editor: This is the title page to *The Iliad of Homer*, engraved by Thomas Piroli in 1795, based on compositions by John Flaxman. It's a print, an engraving on paper, and has a kind of severe elegance to it. What do you make of it? Curator: Elegant, yes, like a whisper from antiquity! You know, when I look at this, I see the Neoclassical spirit in full flight. Flaxman, a sculptor by trade, distills Homer down to these spare, almost diagrammatic lines. It feels like he’s reaching back to some pure, Platonic form of illustration. Do you feel that restraint, that cool intellectual remove? Editor: Definitely! The composition does seem almost mathematical, but it also feels a bit…stark? Is that intentional, do you think? Curator: Starkness can be a virtue, my dear! Remember, the Neoclassicists were reacting against the Rococo’s frills and fuss. They wanted clarity, reason, and above all, morality in their art. It's as if Flaxman is trying to capture the essence of Homeric heroism in its most unadorned state, almost as though he were saying to himself “What would this artwork look like in Ancient Rome?” Editor: That makes sense. It's interesting to think about what they were trying to get away from. I’ll definitely be thinking about that next time I'm wandering the museum. Curator: Precisely. I'm glad you made the time! Now, off you go and look at something wild.