Design for a Ceiling with Strapwork and a Cross-shaped Center 1609

Curator: Here, we have "Design for a Ceiling with Strapwork and a Cross-shaped Center" by Hans Jakob Ebelmann, dating back to 1609. It's an engraving, a dance of lines etched onto paper, housed here at the Met. Editor: My first thought? A headache! It's all so precisely… dizzying. The intricacy is almost overwhelming, a meticulousness bordering on madness. Curator: I can see that. The strapwork—those interlaced bands—does create a rather restless surface. Ebelmann really commits to the geometric vocabulary. Circles, squares, rectangles… even a cross at its heart, all colliding and layering. Editor: It feels less like looking *up* at a ceiling, and more like being pressed *into* it. It’s so dense, so little negative space. Do you think that's intentional, maybe trying to convey power? Imprisonment even? Curator: Perhaps. Ceiling designs during the Renaissance, were potent statements of wealth and status. Think of it as visual theatre: a display of intricate skill, mathematical understanding, and artistic flourish. But in this case, maybe it does feel overwhelming due to the density you mentioned, and this feeling is perhaps exaggerated due to its medium. Editor: It's the optical illusion of the "strapwork" again. It looks three-dimensional; there's such attention to perspective within those square frames that almost suggest hidden rooms above a false ceiling. It creates this ambiguous space that the mind kind of boggles at. It seems almost playfully deceitful to me. Curator: Precisely! Ebelmann invites the eye to wander, constantly shifting our understanding of depth and surface. It also prompts thinking of what isn't immediately seen in such domestic interiors. Think of how it might change in the presence of added elements like frescos or ornate decor. Editor: It almost has a cold, steely feel in how everything is designed. It makes me imagine an austere sort of place that the finished ceiling might have been found. Not very comfortable! Curator: Perhaps its sterile atmosphere also speaks of what art aimed to produce or capture at the time—a cold and reasoned response to life. I find something oddly beautiful in the mechanical elegance of this little print, its perfect lines promising grand architecture somewhere… that may or may not ever come to be. Editor: Beautifully put! It definitely leaves a lingering impression, a curious blend of awe and slight… unease. I don't think I will be looking up anytime soon.