Bathers c. 18th century

Editor: Here we have "Bathers" by Salomon Gessner. This little etching feels like stumbling upon a secret, a hushed moment of leisure hidden within a wild landscape. What strikes you most about it? Curator: It's the dance between the cultivated and the untamed, isn't it? Gessner, with his romantic's heart, frames these figures – perhaps nymphs, perhaps just ordinary folk – within an almost theatrical nature. I wonder, does it make you yearn for a simpler, more Arcadian time? Editor: Absolutely! It’s interesting how the natural world is both enveloping and slightly… stagey. Curator: Precisely. And that tension, I think, speaks volumes about the era's longing for an idealized past. See how the figures almost blend into the landscape? It's a dreamscape, really. Editor: I didn't catch that before, the figures blending like that. Thanks for pointing that out!