Bas-reliëf met twee Vestaalse maagden 1636 - 1647

Editor: This is "Bas-relief with two Vestal Virgins," an engraving done between 1636 and 1647 by Valérien Regnard. It’s quite a detailed print. What strikes me is the very precise rendering of fabric, yet everything is simplified, classical. How would you approach interpreting this piece? Curator: From a materialist perspective, let's consider the context of printmaking during this period. Engravings like this facilitated the dissemination of classical imagery and ideals. What impact did these prints have on the broader culture? Editor: Well, reproductions would have been more accessible, perhaps influencing taste and architectural design? Curator: Exactly. This print acted as a commodity, traded and collected, spreading particular aesthetic and social values related to antiquity. Notice how the intaglio technique itself allows for the fine lines necessary to capture the details, how this production method might have standardized or formalized perceptions of classical beauty, even altering traditions through mass replication. Editor: That's fascinating, considering that it is both art and commodity! Do you think the artist’s labor in producing this, carefully engraving the plate, influences how we should value the print today? Curator: Absolutely. We tend to focus on iconography – Vesta, the virgins – but overlooking the labor, the sheer skill and time required to produce this. We could argue the true subject of the print is this skill, labor and material process made available for circulation. Editor: It's a different way to see it. Considering this print as both image and object changes my view on how art is created and its broader function in the world. Curator: Precisely! Hopefully this will affect how you continue to assess the materiality and social conditions of artistic production.