Rough-legged Falcon 1833

Curator: There's a stark beauty to this, a life-and-death drama frozen in time. Editor: Indeed. This is Robert Havell Jr.’s rendering of a “Rough-legged Falcon,” a hand-colored engraving with etching and aquatint. It's a large print, almost four feet tall. Curator: The Rough-legged Falcon as a symbol carries the weight of predatory power, a visual assertion of dominance. The smaller bird is a visual reminder of mortality. Editor: It's interesting to consider how this image, disseminated as a print, might have shaped understandings of wilderness and the food chain among a growing urban population. Curator: Right, how the encounter with the “wild” is carefully mediated and consumed, turning a visceral moment into a visual commodity. Editor: An assertive projection of power and control over the natural world, contained within the frame. Curator: Precisely. A testament to how images can tell us so much more than what they depict.