Coronation of Otto the Great in the Church of Saint'Ambrogio, Milan 1650

Editor: Here we have Johann Christoph Storer's "Coronation of Otto the Great in the Church of Saint'Ambrogio, Milan" from 1650. It's an ink, chalk, and pen drawing on paper. It has a theatrical mood; what do you make of it? Curator: The whole thing's rendered with this sepia wash, making it feel like a faded memory. It evokes both the pomp of empire and its fragility. It makes me think of a theatrical stage, lit with flickering candlelight, all poised to collapse. Storer's trying to give us a slice of history but knows that all history is essentially staged, doesn't it? Editor: That idea of staged history makes so much sense here. I mean, just look at the halberds and the costumes! They're practically screaming "drama." How does the composition play into that sense of drama? Curator: Notice how everything spirals into that central crowning moment? There’s a tension in how the eye is lead straight to Otto’s hunched posture! I almost feel the weight of the crown crushing him. Think about how this work was created at a time of religious and political upheaval. Maybe it's more than just pomp; maybe it's about the burden of power? Don't you feel a bit suffocated by it all? Editor: Yeah, I hadn't considered that burden aspect before. That is, with these materials, he still conveyed a feeling of darkness to me, just not so deep as it appears to me now. Curator: Exactly! Storer, despite the limitations of the medium, uses light and shadow to paint a really loaded portrait.