Elevation of Proscenium According to New Design and Lateral View of Boxes 1745 - 1755

Curator: This delicate print offers a glimpse into the world of 18th-century theatrical design. What we're looking at is Giuseppe Galli Bibiena's "Elevation of Proscenium According to New Design and Lateral View of Boxes," created sometime between 1745 and 1755. The materials are quite telling—etching on paper allows for these incredibly fine details. Editor: It’s strikingly ornate! The intricacy almost overwhelms the eye. It feels less like a design for practical architecture and more like a flight of fancy—all swirling cherubs and extravagant decorations. Like stepping into a baroque dream, all etched in fragile lines. Curator: Exactly. This etching gives you an opportunity to peek behind the curtains, and consider the production process of theater in this period, its labor that isn't always valued the same as the spectacle presented on stage. We often think of baroque as something just painted, sculpted, or built... but seeing it distilled through this medium invites some interesting ideas. Editor: And those boxes stacked on top of each other! So many eyes watching other eyes… It makes me think about the consumption of art and theater at the time—who had access to these spaces, who was being entertained, and, crucially, who was doing the work to facilitate it all? Curator: Those are crucial observations. This isn’t just a record of a design; it's a window into a social hierarchy, carefully crafted illusions made for very select audiences and constructed by artisans whose identities are usually obscured, but for pieces such as this. You start thinking of the role they play not just in terms of creating pretty decor, but building this opulent world. Editor: I find that so fascinating! This emphasis on making. The design is stunning, yes, but it's grounding to imagine this was once just someone with a plate of copper, slowly layering acid... it pulls some of the gilded splendor back down to earth. It encourages thinking about the whole system around production, labor, economy that exists here too. Curator: Absolutely. For me it triggers similar ideas and this print also embodies a captivating moment. The print, architecture, and theatricality speak to the potential within a carefully considered medium. Editor: Well, it definitely leaves you pondering how beauty and labor intersect.