Scene in a Church with Figures Below. Verso: Sketch 

Curator: This is Thomas Stothard's "Scene in a Church with Figures Below," currently held in the Tate Collections. Editor: It feels very immediate, almost like a fleeting moment captured in charcoal or ink. Curator: Stothard, born in 1755, often created designs for book illustrations, and this piece, with its layered sketches, gives us insight into his working process. We can see the verso sketch visible beneath. Editor: I'm drawn to the figures in the lower register, perhaps studies for another composition? It speaks to the labor involved, the iterations, the sheer physicality of art making, challenging notions of effortless genius. Curator: Absolutely, and it's interesting to consider how the church setting itself, a place of ritual and power, may have influenced his artistic choices. Editor: The materiality – the paper, the ink – becomes a testament to the artist's hand and the social conditions of artistic production at the time. Quite fascinating. Curator: Indeed, understanding this can reveal so much about the social and political forces shaping the art world. Editor: I'll be thinking about all this the next time I see a finished illustration.