Astolfo houdt Calligorant als gevangene aan zijn zijde 1771 - 1772

Louis Wilhelm Chodowiecki made this print, Astolfo Holds Calligorant as a Prisoner at His Side, sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. At first glance, we see a heroic figure on horseback, but our eyes are immediately drawn to the chained giant looming behind him. Consider how narratives of power and control play out here. Astolfo, a knight-errant, subdues Calligorant, a wild man, a figure often used to symbolize the ‘uncivilized’. Chodowiecki situates the two figures in a landscape marked by both nature and ancient Egyptian pyramids. This juxtaposition implies a dynamic tension between domination and natural order. We might question whose stories get told and how. Is Chodowiecki reinforcing existing hierarchies, or subtly critiquing them? The print encourages us to think about the narratives we inherit, and the roles we play in perpetuating or challenging them. What does it mean to be civilized, and at what cost?