The Shepherds of Arcadia c. 19th century

Curator: There's a hauntingly serene quality to this print, isn't there? Editor: Absolutely. And let's remember Maurice Blot, active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, created this allegorical scene, titled "The Shepherds of Arcadia." The composition evokes a sense of melancholic reflection, like a memory. Curator: It's like they've stumbled upon a secret. The woman looks almost like she's posing or in shock. And what's with this tomb? Is this an epitaph? Editor: Indeed, "Et in Arcadia ego"—Even in Arcadia, there am I. Death exists even in paradise. It's a powerful statement on mortality, especially considering the social upheaval of the period. Arcadia, the idealized pastoral landscape, is not exempt. Curator: Death is always present in life, that's a lesson worth remembering. Editor: Precisely. Blot’s work invites us to meditate on our place in history, our transient existence.