Illustration for a Book: Soldiers Storming a City 1696 - 1770

Curator: Before us is Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's pen and brown ink and brown wash over black chalk drawing entitled "Illustration for a Book: Soldiers Storming a City," dating approximately from 1696 to 1770. Editor: It's surprisingly energetic for an ink drawing! The sketch-like quality gives it an almost frenetic sense of movement. Curator: Absolutely, and it's interesting to consider what narrative Tiepolo may have been aiming to convey. The visual is brimming with imperial conquest and masculine violence, a stark reminder of the historical and systemic brutality often normalized. The throng of soldiers seems relentless, almost a critique of unchecked aggression. Editor: The composition definitely supports that reading. Notice how the eye is directed towards the center, to that mass of bodies pressing forward. Tiepolo masterfully employs light and shadow to create depth and focus on the active portion of the scene. The formal structure directs the eye but also hints at a conceptual complexity, about how these armies advance and cities fall. Curator: And think about the city itself; we only see the battle, not the impact on civilians. Tiepolo’s choice may serve to further embolden or celebrate conquest, obscuring its more devastating consequences, thus furthering those ideals through visual encoding. Who benefits from celebrating only military prowess, never mind the complex realities of war? Editor: Yes, although the roughness of the execution also reads like immediacy, as if quickly capturing an idea. We should also observe the lines used for detail in the figures, so close together in the middleground and then dissipating outwards. It leads to interesting interplay between details and the whole spectacle of violence that may serve to comment about the loss of personhood during acts of war. Curator: Thank you, as this offers me a reminder that the historical interpretations can change drastically as the discourse continues and art remains a valuable document of ideology for us all. Editor: A brisk exchange, yet, valuable because it suggests how this quick ink work rewards closer and closer examination, to discover what it might communicate and express to each individual.