Three Cupids Playing with Vine Branches 1731 - 1765

Editor: Here we have Louis Félix de La Rue’s “Three Cupids Playing with Vine Branches,” an engraving from somewhere between 1731 and 1765. It's a lighter work with some figures and cloud-like scenery. How would you begin to interpret this through a material lens? Curator: It’s interesting to consider this engraving as an object of production and consumption, even an act of labor. Think about the engraver: the precision of line, the tools required, the training necessary. It bridges a supposed gap, challenging the high art of painting versus the perceived 'lower' craft of printmaking. Consider who would purchase this. What social status or aspiring social status do you think this caters to? Editor: Hmm, probably someone from the upper class, given the mythological subject and the refinement of the line work? Someone decorating a drawing-room, maybe? Curator: Precisely. But it's more than mere decoration. This engraving, through its reproductive nature, makes imagery accessible. Vine branches, a symbolic material, point to celebration and excess but it’s disseminated in a new form. Editor: So, it’s taking a traditionally exclusive image, something linked to wealth and power, and making a version available to a broader, although still relatively privileged, audience? Is it trying to capitalize on people who wish to emulate an aristocratic lifestyle? Curator: It’s that desire that fueled the market. The engraving facilitates aspiration through consumption, influencing interior design, and displays of refined taste. Consider, though, the source image. Who commissioned and produced that? Editor: Ah, right! I see what you mean. So this piece opens up all these questions about the movement of materials, images, and aspirations throughout the market... It makes me see this image not only as decorative but as a type of manufactured object intended for consumption. Thanks! Curator: It makes you think differently about value and circulation. Seeing how the creation changes through different socioeconomic backgrounds, from studio creation to domestic display.