Vaas met vrouwenfiguren 1764

Benigno Bossi created this chalk-manner print of a vase with female figures sometime in the 18th century. The image depicts a vase adorned with classical motifs: fluted sides, lion heads, and, most strikingly, two nude women perched atop the lions, clasping hands over the vase’s opening. This print was made during the height of the Neoclassical movement, when artists looked to ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration. There was a belief that a revival of these classical forms would offer moral instruction and social reform. The image speaks to the period’s obsession with idealised beauty and the human form. We might ask, what is the public role of this art? Was it meant to instruct, to beautify, or perhaps to subtly reinforce existing social hierarchies? As historians, our task is to delve deeper, researching the visual codes, cultural references, and the historical associations that give this image its full meaning. We must look to the social and institutional contexts that shaped both its creation and reception.