Portrait of a Middle-Aged Man 

Curator: We're looking at Ottavio Leoni's "Portrait of a Middle-Aged Man," an etching made during the Renaissance. There's something quite immediate about it, isn't there? Editor: Immediate, yes, but also somehow… contained. The hatching and cross-hatching—the sheer labor that must have gone into it—emphasizes the almost manufactured image, which contrasts against the soft appearance of the man it depicts. It makes me wonder, what was the labour environment of intaglio at that time? Curator: Good question! I suppose Leoni was negotiating a balance – needing to represent his subject's dignity, while working with materials which at once honored and flattened that identity. What really grabs me is the light. Notice how it illuminates one side of his face, leaving the other in shadow? He's an embodiment of contrasts, confidence mingled with introspection, power tempered by vulnerability. Do you feel that? Editor: I see the effect, though I think the "vulnerability" is just how easily this image could be mass-produced. Look at the lines of his clothing—the simple repetitions. Someone, or several someones, were churning these portraits out, and that speaks to a market, a demand, a whole social network centered on…representation itself. He probably used an engraving which helped to simplify the making-process in multiples. Curator: I can't disagree with you, to some extent, especially concerning the market for these images at that time. The ability to reproduce images did shift cultural values and perceptions of access and likeness. However, when I really look into the subject's eyes, there’s a world there, a kind of private theater playing out behind that facade. What kind of inner-life, I ask myself, could he have led? Who was this man? Editor: An excellent question! But for me the more interesting question is not about this particular man and his "inner life", but instead the material life surrounding the *making* of his portrait; where did the inks come from, and who made the paper? Who ensured the patronage, the wages, for all involved? These are all key pieces in the much broader portrait this piece actually suggests. Curator: Perhaps that tension is what makes the artwork so compelling – our differing ideas, reflected in the same image. One sees the soul of the man, and the other, a network of materials, makers and processes. A reminder that art holds a mirror up to both ourselves, and the society from which we view it. Editor: Indeed. The means of production shape not only the artwork but our interpretations of it, as well.