Cavalry Squadron 1675

Editor: Here we have Antoinette Bouzonnet-Stella's "Cavalry Squadron," a detailed print showcased here at Harvard. It feels almost dreamlike, a blend of chaos and meticulous rendering. What do you see in this piece, something beyond the surface? Curator: It's a dance, isn't it? A rhythmic swirl of bodies and horses wading through the water. It reminds me of a fever dream, the kind you have after reading too much Virgil. I wonder if Bouzonnet-Stella felt that same pull, that need to capture the epic sweep of history, one tiny etched line at a time? Editor: That's a lovely image, the epic in the etched line. I hadn't thought of it that way. Curator: It’s the tension between the grand narrative and the individual struggle, the horse struggling in the stream, the soldier reaching out, the ones behind pushing forward. It's humanity, writ small and then magnified. We are all just trying to keep going. Editor: I guess that’s the enduring power of a piece like this, isn’t it? We see ourselves, even centuries later. Curator: Exactly. The dream continues.