Ceremony held in the Cappella Paolina, Vatican 1787

Curator: Look at the way the light almost fractures in this print; it reminds me of sunlight through stained glass, a hazy memory. Editor: This is "Ceremony held in the Cappella Paolina, Vatican," an engraving by Francesco Piranesi dating from 1787. It depicts, quite plainly, an event within the Cappella Paolina. What strikes you as memory-like? Curator: Well, it is mostly grayscale and that brilliant, radiant light sort of dissolves the details into pure experience. There is a definite emphasis on atmosphere, right? A holy moment, rendered ethereally. It reminds me of being a kid and my parents dragging me to some ceremony and you mostly just feel the light. Editor: And what is interesting to me are the very un-ethereal material conditions here. The engraving process itself involves layering impressions, working the plate. Each print pulled would subtly alter with each impression, an almost devotional labor in itself—akin to the ceremony depicted perhaps. Curator: That is beautiful, actually. Almost as if the labor mirrors the ceremony itself, which is also deeply intentional and has repeated over time in the space it exists within. Editor: Absolutely, the meticulousness translates, whether consciously or not. And you see the architectural rendering itself-- all those pillars and the vaulted ceiling; the labor invested into physically building this religious site and creating the scene. Curator: So true. There is the labor of Piranesi to construct the artwork itself, mimicking and replaying a story. It is history being reshaped on several levels. You almost forget that it is a print because it evokes all of these deeply involved building blocks. Editor: Yes, and thinking about the neoclassical aesthetic coming back to ancient form as something tangible... Piranesi had to consider the socio-historical impact, as he would have needed access to it, while reproducing a similar event or moment in real-time. And the print form brings it into many hands to experience it in some way. Curator: Which echoes your original point about materials being a medium for ceremony too. Every stage in this piece echoes, amplifies, and reflects aspects of itself through history. The very nature of time feels so compressed! Editor: In the end, a beautiful loop is constructed here, or several layers stacked on top of each other creating history. Thank you, Francesco Piranesi!