Beatrice and Dante 1807

Editor: Here we have John Flaxman's "Beatrice and Dante," a delicate line drawing. It feels so neoclassical in its simplicity. What strikes you about Flaxman's rendering here? Curator: It's interesting how Flaxman employs such minimal means – line and paper – to evoke Dante's complex world. The industrial production of paper, and printmaking made the divine accessible to a wider audience, impacting the consumption of art. Notice how the lines themselves, economical and precise, become the primary carriers of meaning. Editor: So, the materiality emphasizes accessibility and broad consumption? Curator: Precisely. Flaxman democratizes a traditionally elite subject. Consider the labor involved in creating these plates and prints, and how the process itself alters our perception of the divine encounter. It changes our understanding of the art object itself. Editor: That gives me a lot to think about. I see it differently now!