Zaligverklaring van een heilige in de Sint-Pietersbasiliek 1700 - 1705

Curator: This print by Hendrik Elandt, made between 1700 and 1705, depicts a "Beatification of a Saint in St. Peter's Basilica." Editor: My goodness, the precision of the lines is remarkable! It almost feels architectural, like looking at a detailed blueprint. So many figures...it looks incredibly staged. Curator: Well, it is a stage of sorts, isn’t it? Consider the engraving process: the intense labor, the meticulous carving into the metal plate to create this elaborate scene. You can practically feel the engraver's hand moving across the copper. Editor: Absolutely, the act of repetition, labor, and production becomes so explicit through those engraved lines. There’s something captivating about the perspective too; a sense of being both inside and outside the event. Almost like an audience member, yet distant. Curator: That's what pulls me in; that tension! You feel the weight of tradition, of ceremony... All those faces, observing and being observed in turn. And the lines give it a ghostly quality— these long dead people are suddenly alive. Editor: It is fascinating how the architecture becomes part of the production of meaning too—framing the entire scene to enhance that power dynamic. And the fact that we are looking at a printed reproduction now in the Rijksmuseum continues to shift those layers of production and spectatorship. Curator: Indeed. Elandt doesn't simply document an event; he immortalizes a spectacle, offering a Baroque theatre of faith and power, all through the laborious yet exacting craft of printmaking. Editor: Seeing all that visual language of ritual gives me much to think about. So much effort went into legitimizing a saint. Curator: For me, I appreciate the sheer skill of it all: that somebody spent months on the print allows me to remember these faces.