Amor en Psyche van Antonio Canova in het Louvre 1885 - 1920

Editor: We're looking at a stereoscopic print titled "Amor en Psyche van Antonio Canova in het Louvre," dating somewhere between 1885 and 1920. It's currently held at the Rijksmuseum, and depicts what appear to be sculptures. I'm struck by the, almost unsettling, stillness of it all. What leaps out at you when you see this? Curator: Ah, yes. The stillness...it’s almost as if the photograph itself is trying to hold its breath. What I find interesting is the tension between the implied motion of the embracing figures and the absolute immobility enforced by the stone itself and the photographic medium. It's a meditation on capturing fleeting moments, isn't it? And of course, the Romantic obsession with Greek and Roman mythology, with love and longing, distilled into these cool, marble forms. Do you feel that distance, that longing for an ideal, when you look at it? Editor: I definitely see the longing you're talking about. I was so focused on the stillness that the sense of something just beyond reach hadn't fully hit me. Curator: Exactly! This print invites you into a melancholic reflection... Do you wonder what will happen when Psyche, at long last, has the chance to glance at her long awaited lover's true face, and, as the legend would have it, breaks their bond, setting them on what they thought to be different and disparate paths? What about the person shown, seemingly quietly waiting, at the very right? Is this some subtle, early-photographic-times commentary about life's unpredictable and unfair unfoldings, and its disquieting symmetries? Editor: I didn't notice the figure on the right at first. The photo suggests waiting...waiting and longing seem connected somehow here, with a bit of wistful anticipation and possibly painful, even unacceptable, denouements at stake. Curator: Precisely! Maybe this image speaks as much about absence and hope, rather than immediate tangible connection. Thank you for prompting my curiosity with your openness and engaging view on things! Editor: Thanks! This was very illuminating. I learned so much looking at it through the lens of both motion and stillness, along with the sense of awaiting something meaningful and long desired.