Cecilia in gesprek met Mrs. Benfield 1787

Editor: This is Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki’s engraving, "Cecilia in gesprek met Mrs. Benfield," from 1787, currently residing at the Rijksmuseum. The print feels… intimate, almost like eavesdropping on a private conversation. What story do you think Chodowiecki is trying to tell? Curator: Ah, yes, the everyday made monumental! I’m struck by the composition - two separate spaces with their own activity. It’s a window into another world, a world obsessed with moral virtue and decorum! We have Cecilia seemingly in conversation while another drama is unfurling right beside her. I see neoclassicism, I think the virtue in having decorum while your entire world changes... What are you catching with the line weights and their implied impact of Neoclassical idealism, yes or no? Editor: Yes, that makes sense! But tell me more about what makes this neoclassicism - I thought this style focused more on, like, grand historical scenes and classical figures? Curator: And that's a fantastic point. One sometimes gets misled by the grandeur and seriousness we associate with it. This feels much more humble... and it makes me feel warm, how does it make you feel, Editor? Editor: It definitely feels intimate, yes, maybe warm and relatable. Curator: Relatable! Here are ordinary people enacting daily dramas. What is not neoclassical? I love how he uses print to tell it like it is - no varnish no illusion, he could never ever lie and be anything but real! It reminds me of theatre—separate acts unfolding simultaneously, life happening all at once. Editor: So it's like... neoclassicism but for the common person? I learned that a print does this with ease since painting and sculpture were mainly reserved for wealthy families! Curator: Precisely! It shows how cultural shifts percolate even into the mundane, reflecting how the big movements color our smallest moments. Now, *that* makes it worthwhile.