Navigation 1655 - 1703

Editor: This print, titled "Navigation" by Gérard Audran, shows a classical figure standing on a pedestal. The level of detail seems really impressive. What's your take on this piece? Curator: Let's consider the means of production. Note the lines, carefully etched to create the illusion of depth and form. How does the materiality of the printmaking process itself – the labor, the copper plate, the ink – inform the representation of this allegorical figure? Editor: That's interesting! I hadn't thought about the actual process of making the print. Curator: What does it mean to reproduce and circulate images of classical ideals through printmaking in this period? How does this relate to broader patterns of consumption and knowledge dissemination? Editor: It's fascinating to think about how the print makes this statue, and navigation itself, more accessible. Curator: Precisely.