Edinburgh Seen from the Chapel of Saint Anthony 1826

Editor: This is Richard Parkes Bonington’s "Edinburgh Seen from the Chapel of Saint Anthony." It looks like a lithograph. The landscape is quite striking, but the figures seem almost incidental. What should we notice first here? Curator: Consider the labor involved in producing this print. The stone, the ink, the press - each element speaks to a specific process and availability of resources. How does this contrast with the Romantic landscape it depicts? Editor: So you’re saying the means of production shapes our understanding? Curator: Precisely. The material reality of creating this image is intertwined with the social and economic context of its time. We are seeing Edinburgh through a lens of industrial possibility. Editor: I hadn't thought about it that way, focusing instead on the picturesque view. Curator: By looking at the materials, we understand the era's values, and how art served its purpose.