Ree before 1650

Curator: Here we have Antonio Tempesta's "Ree," created sometime before 1650. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It strikes me immediately as incredibly fragile. That single, delicately engraved line gives the animal such a sense of vulnerability, like it could be blown over by a strong wind. Curator: Precisely. As an engraving, this work, this delicate interplay of line, asks us to consider the relationship between fragility and strength. What materials and actions produce the image we are seeing. The labour required for this precise and repetitive incising is no small endeavor! Editor: That focus on process makes me think about the original function of prints like these. Was it simply artistic expression, or perhaps part of a larger industry of image-making, serving perhaps educational or decorative purposes? This idea of an accessible multiplication of images is also deeply relevant. What type of paper and ink do you suppose Tempesta selected? Curator: It dances on the edge between meticulous study and ethereal grace. There is an energy to the Ree, almost yearning. I’d imagine it may have originally been conceived to document various animals but even still its impossible not to give into its presence, the quality is too rich, the line has too much life! Editor: The commercial networks facilitated by printmaking were changing our relationship with the animal kingdom in fundamental ways. They democratize access but often reinforce existing power structures – those of the patron and artist. Can we look past the art and consider how Ree’s are represented even today, either idealized or rendered a commodity? Curator: Beautifully stated. Tempesta certainly brings forth questions about beauty and labor! Even if this piece speaks about access it continues to spark dialogues on so many different aspects of existence. It is quite mesmerizing that a little "Ree" made of ink can stir us so profoundly even now. Editor: Indeed, tracing the lines of influence from Tempesta's engraving to our contemporary understandings highlights how deeply intertwined the seemingly disparate worlds of art, production, and representation truly are. It calls into the surface who, how and what it represents.