Countess Trifaldi and the dueñas display their beards 1781

Editor: This etching is by Augustin de Saint-Aubin, entitled "Countess Trifaldi and the dueñas display their beards." It seems to depict a theatrical scene. What strikes you about it? Curator: The medium itself, etching, is crucial. Consider the labor involved in producing multiple copies, making this image available to a broader audience. The social context of its consumption is as vital as its content. Editor: How does that affect our understanding of the artwork? Curator: The print's existence as a commodity shapes its meaning. We might ask who could afford it, and how it circulated. This challenges the notion of art as a unique, precious object. Editor: That's a very different way of seeing art. I'll have to rethink my usual focus on the artistic choices of composition or subject. Curator: Exactly. By focusing on materials and processes, we bring hidden labor and the social lives of objects into view.