Plate 6: A young man embracing a girl; from 'Icones ad vivum expressae' after Giovanni Battista Piazzetta 1743

Curator: Looking at this print, made in 1743 after a drawing by Giovanni Battista Piazzetta, it depicts a tender embrace between a young man and woman. The medium is engraving. Editor: It's striking! There's something intensely melancholic about it, even though it portrays affection. The limited tonal range throws these long necks and gazes into high relief – makes me wonder, what’s the backstory? Curator: The print is titled "Plate 6: A young man embracing a girl; from 'Icones ad vivum expressae'," now held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Considering the period, this kind of intimate portrayal was certainly intended for circulation and admiration amongst a select audience, displaying affection in a manner that fits neatly within very controlled societal mores. Editor: Mmm, controlled is the word! Even the embrace feels somehow... restrained, formal. There's this powerful sense of holding back, a yearning communicated through the averted gazes. You see a lot of baroque art using these devices to give hints. Maybe, in their avoidance, lies some truth. Like whispers. Curator: Absolutely. The engraving technique itself, with its precise lines, almost amplifies this sense of controlled expression. And remember that prints like these facilitated the dissemination of artistic styles and ideals of the era. The Met houses it now, but who handled it and where it hung originally opens this art for socio-political readings around visibility, and wealth and gender and devotion. Editor: It feels like we’re witnessing a fragment of a story, a fleeting emotional encounter rendered permanent. It asks so many unspoken questions. Is it pure innocent connection or something far deeper, more complicated? The stark contrasts also somehow magnify the piece for me... Curator: The charm here comes from all that space it opens. Editor: A beautiful open-ended poem in visual form. Curator: Precisely. A glimpse of Baroque sensibility filtered through our modern gaze.