The Crucifixion 

Editor: Here we have what appears to be an etching or engraving, “The Crucifixion” by Bernardino Poccetti. It's teeming with figures and details, a chaotic yet somber scene rendered in monochrome. What catches your eye in this piece, considering its materials and the way it was produced? Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the labor involved. Look at the density of the linework, achieved through what seems to be an intaglio process, likely etching or engraving as you pointed out. It speaks volumes about the workshop practice, the many hours of skilled labor required to create this matrix. Consider the acid's bite, the precise control needed to render such a complex composition on the metal plate. Is this a singular work, or something reproducible for mass consumption? Editor: I assume it was made for reproduction. I mean, wasn't printmaking used to disseminate religious imagery and stories widely? How does that change the way we see it? Curator: Precisely. It removes "The Crucifixion" from the realm of unique, venerated object and inserts it into the flow of commodities. The spiritual narrative becomes a product, subject to the economics of supply and demand, patronage, and the skilled labor market of printmakers. How might the conditions of the creation and consumption affect the reading of a crucifixion scene? Editor: So, even the choice of intaglio—etching or engraving—as a reproductive medium has implications? Like, a painting of this scene is precious and unique, whereas this printed image exists to be circulated and consumed. Curator: Exactly. And furthermore, consider the implications of using acid to "bite" the image into the plate in the etching process. What does that tell us about creation through, in a sense, destruction? And whose consumption were these prints directed towards, and to what purpose? Editor: That's given me a lot to consider! I never thought about religious art this way before – less about the spiritual message and more about its production and place within the wider material culture. Curator: Right, seeing the means of production as integral to its meaning, beyond its symbolic representation alone. It prompts us to see the hand of the artist not just as a spiritual vessel, but as a skilled laborer within a specific economic system.