Certificate of Bible Society 19th century

Editor: This is a 19th-century engraving, "Certificate of Bible Society," by Asher Brown Durand. It's packed with figures and a huge printing press at the center, and at first glance it feels… well, staged. Like a really intense historical reenactment. What stands out to you most in this work? Curator: "Staged" is an interesting observation; I can almost see Durand as a theatre director, arranging his players on that little hill. See how the light almost aggressively spotlights the printing press – the very engine of the Bible Society! It reminds me of a stage set. Look at the variety of faces in the crowd—do you recognize types you've seen represented elsewhere in Academic or Romantic art? Durand’s academic grounding shines through in that calculated blend of realism and idealism. Editor: Definitely. And the folks on the margins seem to be a cross section of society. What is Durand trying to say? Curator: He's making a statement about the Bible Society's influence, literally broadcasting its message. It's more than documentation. Those emanating rays of light—a bit heavy-handed, maybe? But also, it transforms the mundane printing press into something divinely ordained, literally a machine blessed by God. The crowd, that wonderfully rendered crowd… is not there *merely* to read; they're there to *witness*. They complete the symbol! I wonder, were such certificates common? What did it *mean* to be granted such document in this period? Editor: A blessed machine…that makes so much sense now that you point it out. So, is this, in your view, a glorification of technology meeting faith? Curator: Precisely. Durand seems to be celebrating that very intersection! To be critical, though, I’d observe that the image has lost that immediacy that strikes in Genre paintings such as Daumier’s lithographies; this, perhaps, because of the overt glorification of his object. But also, it suggests anxieties of mass production, doesn’t it? Making faith *available*, replicable. I do wonder what Durand would have to say about digital dissemination! Editor: True, I hadn’t considered that angle. I am off to research genre paintings now, and perhaps this opens the door for new perspectives on 19th-century engravings. Thanks so much. Curator: The pleasure was entirely mine, my dear. Now *I* have something to think about: the intersection of faith and *anxiety*. How marvelous that art makes our intellectual path glow!