In Memoriam 1938

John Taylor Arms made this etching, "In Memoriam," sometime in the first half of the 20th century, and the precision of it is just incredible, like a very detailed technical drawing, but with a deep emotional resonance. The etching captures the architectural details of a Gothic cathedral, and what strikes me is the delicate, almost obsessive attention to line. Each line seems carefully considered, building up the image bit by bit. You can almost feel the artist's hand moving across the plate, etching in all the intricate details of the stonework, the windows, and the arches. It reminds me that artmaking is a slow, deliberate, thoughtful process, a real meditation. Look at the way the light seems to dissolve the edges of the cathedral, softening it. For me this makes the image a metaphor for memory itself, faded and imprecise, yet still powerful. It feels like a cousin of Piranesi's architectural fantasies, those feverish visions of ancient Rome, but with an added layer of melancholy. It is an elegy rendered in lines.