Pope Pius VII Riding on the Saône at the Time of His Journey to Lyon 1805

Curator: This is Jean Jacques de Boissieu’s "Pope Pius VII Riding on the Saône at the Time of His Journey to Lyon," an etching held at the Harvard Art Museums. The scene depicts the pontiff traveling by boat. Editor: The line work is exquisite! The way he captured the light shimmering on the water is just captivating. It also speaks to the printmaking processes of the era, its precision but also inherent limitations. Curator: Indeed. The river, the Saône, becomes a liminal space, a symbolic river crossing. The Pope, positioned centrally, embodies the spiritual journey, with the surrounding figures suggesting a transition of power and faith. Editor: Yes, but look at the scale of it. An etching is such an intimate medium to depict such a grand event. There's something compelling in that contrast between the material object and the historical weight it carries. Who was Boissieu making this for, and how did they interact with it? Curator: Perhaps the etching provided a sense of proximity to the Pope, a tangible connection to the unfolding historical drama. It offered a way to disseminate and perpetuate the image of papal authority. Editor: I agree. These kinds of prints were the newspapers of the era! Curator: A fascinating convergence of the spiritual and the socio-political, captured through the symbolic power of imagery. Editor: Right. A beautiful example of how the material conditions of art shape how we perceive even the most extraordinary events.