Portret van Catherine Mignard met haar vader Pierre Mignard 1735

Curator: What a melancholic, reflective piece this is. It's almost a visual poem about familial legacy. Editor: Indeed. We're looking at Jean Daullé’s 1735 engraving, "Portrait of Catherine Mignard with her Father, Pierre Mignard,” currently housed at the Rijksmuseum. What’s striking is Daullé’s material and technical skill at translating Baroque painting conventions into the graphic medium of engraving. Curator: The cascading drapery is incredible. I feel like I could almost touch the fabric. And the light! It’s as if Catherine, adorned with flowers, is bathed in a gentle sorrow. She almost fades into the ethereal background. Editor: Well, consider the process of creating engravings like this. It wasn't just about artistic vision; it was a craft. Think about the workshops, the labor division, the economy of printmaking. It served as a means of distributing artistic knowledge to broader audiences, effectively commodifying art. Here, it memorializes a member of the French Aristocracy with reference to her artistic family connections. Curator: I wonder, looking at this engraving, about Catherine’s feelings, not about distribution. The way she's presented next to her father's portrait gives off such an intensely familial feel. I imagine it capturing a moment of bittersweet remembrance after her father’s passing. The engraving must’ve served a deeper purpose. A memento that also immortalizes family history and memory... a beautiful kind of storytelling. Editor: The engraving's proliferation certainly cemented their place in artistic history, ensuring wider knowledge and appreciation. Looking closely at the etched lines—really consider the tools used, the pressure applied. How many identical impressions did a craftsperson have to make by hand to circulate an idea across nations? Curator: You always bring it back to the tangible, don’t you? But that's probably a very down to earth point of view, and quite admirable. And yet, I still find my imagination floating on how intimate such objects were. Editor: Perhaps. Each print serving its practical purpose as an art object for study and circulation, which now carries centuries worth of different meanings... not only about what they show, but also how these were circulated in different communities. Curator: So well put. So many things hide behind the curtains and it is worth unveiling them.