Val van Antiochië after 1874

Curator: This print, "Val van Antiochië," or "Fall of Antioch," comes to us from Paul Jonnard, sometime after 1874. What’s your immediate take? Editor: Chaos. The frantic lines immediately convey the overwhelming violence. There's a brutal, dizzying energy to the composition. Curator: Indeed. Jonnard employs the engraving medium quite effectively here. You have stark contrast of dark and light which intensifies the dramatic quality, but what about the context, the implied labour? How do we think about the printmaking trade when confronted with something so...visceral? Editor: The way light is used emphasizes not only chaos, but heightens the emotional impact—the despair, the panic... It feels performative, almost theatrical in its presentation of suffering, the dramatic diagonals reinforcing that descent, that fall implied in the title. Curator: It speaks to the demand for these historical scenes, doesn't it? These were reproduced en masse, making trauma a commodity of sorts. We are, generations later, implicated in that transaction by engaging with this very image, but it brings a renewed reflection and historical understanding. Editor: And structurally, observe the density of figures versus the stark emptiness of the lower foreground; it creates an immediate tension. And the way he positions the bodies? The fall, the poses—there’s a deliberate artistic choice behind how the horror unfolds, but it reflects some clear and powerful realities of our history. Curator: Right. It's about examining both the artistry and the conditions under which art like this was created, disseminated, and, importantly, consumed, shaping the societal imagination of events such as the crusades, especially how we conceptualize them today. The aged paper really reminds you about the work, skill, craft, and people that contributed to the physical process. Editor: Precisely, looking at "Val van Antiochië" through these lenses shows just how form and social context can intersect in such powerful, thought-provoking ways. Curator: A truly insightful conversation shedding new light on this arresting historical narrative.