Gezicht op het Zeughaus te Berlijn 1742 - 1801

Editor: We’re looking at “Gezicht op het Zeughaus te Berlijn,” a cityscape created sometime between 1742 and 1801 by Georg Balthasar Probst. It looks like a print with watercolor. The building is grand, but the people seem small and almost cartoonish. What can you tell me about this piece? Curator: This image offers us a window into 18th-century Berlin, not just as a physical space but also as a stage for social performance. How do you think the artist uses the architecture of the Zeughaus, this prominent armoury, to convey power dynamics? Editor: It’s certainly imposing. The building seems to loom over the figures in the foreground. The way they're scattered also feels very staged, or artificial, as if illustrating the opulence of power. Curator: Exactly! Now, consider the role of gender and class within that public space. Who populates the foreground? How are they dressed? Are there power imbalances evident in their interactions, considering this was a deeply stratified society? Editor: Mostly people in formal wear and robes. Some are walking, others in carriages. The carriages appear much grander than the walkers and are mostly used by men dressed in finer materials and robes. Curator: And that distinction isn't accidental. Probst highlights the privileges and restrictions that governed people's lives based on their social standing and perhaps gender too. It invites us to critically examine the structures that shape urban experience, and to realize the Zeughaus as not only an armoury but also an emblem of inequality. The artificiality highlights that control. Editor: I hadn’t thought about it that way. It makes the picture far more complex and interesting, looking at it from that point of view! Curator: Precisely! It’s these layers of social commentary that give the artwork a lasting relevance and power.