Bacchusbeeld en twee studies van armen 1847 - 1878

Curator: Immediately, I see strength but also vulnerability in this figure; a sort of detached contemplation. Editor: We're looking at a print called "Bacchusbeeld en twee studies van armen," created by Johannes de Vreede sometime between 1847 and 1878. It's an engraving, offering a glimpse into the academic art practices of the time. Curator: Engravings always strike me by their technical labour. The creation of these delicate lines in print demands tremendous patience and a mastery of the craft itself. It is far from an accident; it reflects time, intention and trained labor. Editor: Indeed, but look at the subject matter itself: Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, fertility, and theatre. Note his placement, posed between the full-bodied figure and studies of the body to the left. How can we read this work intersectionally through art, classical figure and body? Curator: Right, and I keep returning to the image itself: is it more study, a template, or stand alone composition? We see, quite explicitly the labour of the figure in these close-ups: the materiality is foregrounded for me. The figure of Bacchus embodies abundance; and yet it strikes me that we can’t disassociate that celebration from wider social anxieties. The very means of reproducing the image - engraving - implies the consumption of visual representations of these figures. Editor: Yes, I read something disquieting as well in the idealized form, this celebration of virility alongside disembodied limbs, the historical fascination with and exploitation of the body. How might class also structure what is being made visible in this artwork through labor of reproduction? Curator: Exactly. By thinking about the mode of production, of its initial intention and later potential for consumerism, we can unpack so many of the loaded projections attached to depictions of classical masculinity in modern age. Editor: Thanks to Johannes de Vreede and his engraver's tools for reminding us of the complexities interwoven within an image. Curator: An exercise in revealing, layer by painstaking layer, these many levels and associations!