Portretten van Israhel van Meckenem, Martin Schongauer en Jan van Hemessen 1764

Curator: What strikes me most is how this print from 1764, "Portretten van Israhel van Meckenem, Martin Schongauer en Jan van Hemessen," seemingly places three artists, each from different eras, almost side by side. Editor: Yes, there’s a curious sense of timelessness in the arrangement. The etching technique and monochrome palette create a very intellectual, almost scholarly atmosphere. I wonder, were they meant to be seen as contemporaries despite their actual different life spans? Curator: Jan l’ Admiral, the artist, likely intended this as a historical grouping, a kind of homage. By placing them together he perhaps wished to suggest an artistic lineage or common inspiration despite historical distance. The print medium itself democratized their image and made it broadly available. Editor: Look closely at the expressions. Each one is subtly different. One has an almost arrogant bearing, while another bears a solemn countenance and, and another... a quizzical gaze? Their individualized portraits give them specific gravity beyond just being names of importance within art history. They could function almost as symbolic representations of creativity itself. Curator: It is interesting to contemplate this work as a form of proto-art history. Artists shaping how later generations perceive their predecessors, in turn shaping art’s canon for a public increasingly keen to collect engravings of noted figures. This was vital to art’s rise into public life, no longer secluded for elite consumption. Editor: Do you think the visual placement on this wood-paneled structure at the lower section of the artwork might convey something about how legacy or reputation of these men stands the test of time, surviving as the pillars in artistic achievements of those days? Curator: Good question. One reads the history of art through prints, disseminated broadly across societal layers. In this print, art history, portraiture, and the market coalesce into a single object. Editor: A symbolic gathering indeed. I think considering such gathering reminds us how images continue to resonate through our cultural memory. Curator: Yes, absolutely; in the very nature of images from art and its dissemination as commodity within popular visual media like this one we have been discussing here.