A Turkish Prince on Horseback 1615 - 1630

Editor: So, here we have Pieter Soutman's "A Turkish Prince on Horseback," made sometime between 1615 and 1630. It’s an etching, currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It feels almost… theatrical, in its depiction of this procession. What catches your eye in this piece? Curator: What immediately grabs my attention is the process behind the print. Soutman, like many artists of his time, relied heavily on workshops and collaborative labour. We must consider who prepared the plate, who inked it, who operated the press, and their economic relationships to Soutman himself. What was the material cost of producing these prints? Were they intended for a wealthy patron, or wider consumption? Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn't considered the workshop aspect of printmaking so deeply. I was focusing on the “orientalist” themes. Curator: Exactly, the idea of “orientalism” is interesting. How do we define “Turkish” here? To whom was this image intended to be sold? To what social classes, and what pre-conceived notions did they bring? How does the medium, the accessibility of print, contribute to the proliferation and commodification of such imagery, furthering certain power dynamics and consumer demands? The lines and tonal range were also very specific material choices – does that offer some symbolic or aesthetic dimension? Editor: It sounds like, beyond the surface image, the true meaning lies within understanding its creation and how it circulated in society. Curator: Precisely. Examining the labour and material conditions surrounding its production allows us to unpack the complex social and cultural currents at play. Editor: I never would have thought about the economics of creating prints that way. This totally shifts how I'll look at etchings now! Curator: I’m so glad I could shed light on this particular lens for approaching artworks.