Plattegrond van de eerste verdieping van het Palazzo Ambrogio Di Negro te Genua 1622

Editor: This detailed drawing, rendered in ink on paper by Nicolaes Ryckmans in 1622, depicts the floor plan of the Palazzo Ambrogio Di Negro in Genoa. The precision is really striking – almost austere. I’m curious, beyond the obvious architectural details, what else do you find compelling about this work? Curator: Well, let's think about the paper and ink. The creation of the pigments, the pulping and preparation of the paper itself – that all speaks to labour and industry in the 17th century. Ryckmans didn't just envision this plan; he utilized and benefitted from vast systems of extraction and manufacture. Also, consider who commissioned and consumed such images. Editor: The wealthy, right? Someone who owned that Palazzo. Curator: Exactly! The plan becomes a tool of power, representing control over space and, by extension, the resources and labour needed to build and maintain such a structure. This drawing is a material manifestation of social hierarchy. What does the meticulous line work suggest to you about the intent? Editor: That the drawing isn't just representational but functional – a blueprint, perhaps even an aspirational display of wealth, of the labour gone into its construction? Curator: Precisely! This isn’t simply art for art's sake. It’s art embedded within a network of social and economic relationships. We must investigate who profited from its creation. This object is also about commerce, access, and power, isn’t it? Editor: I hadn’t considered it that way. I see the drawing now as a kind of historical artifact that reflects the material conditions of its creation and use. Thank you. Curator: It shifts the focus, doesn’t it? Away from a simple aesthetic reading toward something much more grounded in the reality of its making. It changes my view, as well.