Simon Magus attempting to fly as Saints Peter and Paul, Emperor Nero, and two soldiers look on, from a series of 15 plates, depicting Raphael's works for the Vatican stanze and the Sistine Chapel tapestries 1650 - 1670

Curator: This engraving, currently held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, is by Pietro Santi Bartoli, active during the mid-17th century. It's part of a series that documented Raphael's work for the Vatican, specifically his tapestries and Stanze. The piece we're looking at today depicts the story of Simon Magus' failed attempt to fly. Editor: Visually, I'm struck by the sense of spectacle captured in this small engraving. You've got Nero and his soldiers, almost as a public, and this magician Simon Magus mid-air, presumably about to fail, with Saints Peter and Paul presiding—or preventing—his flight. The drama feels palpable. Curator: Exactly. Bartoli, drawing from Raphael’s compositions, really plays with the dynamic of power here. Nero, as Emperor, is surrounded by his armed forces. We see their institutional power, and yet there's another, perhaps greater, authority being demonstrated. This all is a commentary of what happens when secular rule comes up against religious power, right? Editor: Definitely. Simon's failed flight could be seen as a critique of hubris—of overstepping social or divinely ordained boundaries. This could speak to gender dynamics in the Renaissance, where access to public life and power for women, for instance, was significantly restricted. This print reveals a desire to police and control transgression. How do these scenes solidify power structures that limit social mobility, or challenge normative ideologies? Curator: Indeed. Considering that the source was originally a tapestry, made for a public like the papal audience, would be seen at court. This narrative reinforces specific orthodox narratives against heresy and challenge the perceived role and position of other faiths. Editor: It's intriguing how this relatively small engraving, made decades later, helps propagate very specific historical messages tied to political and religious legitimacy, extending that visual program into new public arenas. And, of course, raises questions around what 'copying' means to that original message, who it continues to speak to over time. Curator: It offers an intriguing intersection of artistic production, religious ideology, and sociopolitical power dynamics of the era. It encourages to further discussion of cultural power struggles!