Aus Koenig Friedrichs Zeit: Zieten 1886

Curator: This is "Aus Koenig Friedrichs Zeit: Zieten" by Eduard Kretzschmar. It depicts a military figure, Zieten, from the time of King Frederick. Editor: It's intensely textural! The fur trim, the details on his jacket – you can almost feel the roughness and weight of the materials. Curator: Exactly. Kretzschmar, active in the mid-19th century, situates Zieten, a celebrated military figure, within the narrative of Prussian power. The image, though seemingly a straightforward portrait, evokes complex relationships between militarism, class, and national identity in that period. Editor: The etching process itself becomes significant. The deliberate layering of lines, the labor involved in its creation mirrors the labor of military service and the material cost of empire. Curator: Precisely. It gives us a view into the making of military, and also national, heroes. Editor: It makes you consider what gets valorized and what gets obscured. Curator: Indeed. A powerful reflection on history. Editor: Materiality and meaning deeply intertwined.