Gezicht op trappen in het Vaticaan c. 1767

Curator: This is Jacques François Blondel’s engraving, “Gezicht op trappen in het Vaticaan,” created around 1767. Blondel masterfully captures the grandeur of the Vatican stairway through the meticulous medium of engraving, highlighting his expertise in architectural rendering. Editor: The composition is striking. I’m immediately drawn into the depth created by the converging lines and the repetition of the columns. It's both awe-inspiring and somewhat cold, wouldn’t you say? Curator: Yes, there’s an intended stoicism in the neoclassical style. Consider the visual weight of those repeated columns: a powerful representation of structural strength but also of unchanging doctrine. And what appears simple is not: the image reverberates with historical implications. The coat-of-arms invokes institutional memory of centuries past, yet the ascending figures, quite diminutive compared to the whole edifice, represent individual faith or a striving for something beyond the material. Editor: Absolutely. The light and shadow play is particularly effective. Note how Blondel uses contrasting values to delineate the architectural elements and create a sense of spatial recession. The architecture has clear geometries to define the perspective of our perception of depth, distance and point of view, so well understood in Classicism. But does the piece feel at all reverent? I see an almost theatrical quality—like a stage set for power. Curator: That's insightful. Architectural grandeur in these cityscapes became a symbol of civic pride and identity but was, especially then, meant to both inspire and remind the individual of their relative place. Blondel wasn’t just documenting space but constructing an image laden with ideological weight, making visual the concept of hierarchies—social, spiritual, and political. Editor: That's where the perspective fascinates me. We are simultaneously invited in by it and made distant, too—almost as if observing a stage rather than actually being on the stairs ourselves. This separation heightens a certain psychological distance. Curator: Agreed. Blondel uses space itself to define a complex web of societal narratives and visual memories, a constant reminder of power’s gaze. Editor: It seems a structure designed as much to manage perception as to function for movement. That cool calculation creates a fascinating tension in the work. Curator: Indeed. It encapsulates so much about how architecture embodies history, perception, and the weight of the institution. Editor: A striking print. Blondel has given us not just a view but a carefully constructed narrative.