Manuscript Table of Contents c. 1725

Editor: Let's dive into this "Manuscript Table of Contents" compiled by Jean Mariette, currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. It's a folded sheet, quite small, almost intimate in scale. What strikes you first? Curator: The chaotic energy! It feels like peering into someone’s wonderfully disorganized mind, a flurry of thoughts captured with such immediacy. Editor: Exactly! The list itemizes the "Oeuvres des Vischers, Berghem et Wovermans," offering titles of prints after paintings by various artists. Note the emphasis on Cornelis Vischer. Curator: Yes, titles like "La Vocation d'Abraham" or "The Four Evangelists"...they evoke such vivid imagery. It's more than a list; it’s a window into the artistic tastes of the time, the stories that resonated. Each line seems bursting with potential. Editor: Absolutely. The materiality also speaks volumes: the paper's texture, the ink's faded hue. This isn't just information; it's a tangible link to the past. I'm captivated by how it documents an entire artistic movement within this small sheet. Curator: It makes me wonder about the hands that held it, the eyes that scanned these titles, dreaming up the art they represented. It's a quiet hum of history, isn't it?