Four slaves 

Editor: This is "Four Slaves," a pen and ink drawing by Gaspare Diziani, its date currently unknown. The use of brown ink washes to create the scene has this airy and dynamic mood about it. What catches your eye when you look at this drawing? Curator: Well, given its title, it's crucial to consider the conditions of artistic production. Diziani's access to materials—the paper, ink, and time to create—reflects a social hierarchy where he wasn’t one of those subjugated “four slaves”. Editor: Right, and what’s your interpretation of that theme, that subject, when filtered through this baroque style? Curator: The Baroque often embellished themes of power and grandeur. But look at the rapid, almost frantic strokes Diziani uses. This technique can be read as reflecting a certain anxiety surrounding the depicted subjugation, an uneasiness perhaps about the very social structures that allowed Diziani the leisure to produce such a drawing. Do you see that tension as well? Editor: That's a really interesting perspective. The way you break it down into access to material is eye opening. Thank you. Curator: Thinking about art in terms of its creation and material context really lets us see beyond the surface. It helps reveal some uncomfortable truths about the past and maybe even the present.