Evening c. 18th century

Curator: This is "Evening" by Pellegrino dal Colle, who was active in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Editor: It's a very brown world, isn't it? Sepia tones give it a sense of something old, of course, but also...earthy, I suppose? Curator: Dal Colle was known for these kinds of idyllic scenes. What do you notice about the figures? Editor: Well, there’s labor implied, with the man carrying a sack and the woman riding the donkey. It’s all about sustenance and, in a way, the materials needed for survival. Curator: I think there's a romanticizing happening here, a kind of pastoral vision that ignores the reality of peasant life. Editor: Perhaps. But focusing on the aqueduct, we can consider the materials and the labor required to build something like that. It brings a different dimension to this landscape, don’t you think? Curator: Absolutely. It reveals the layers of societal intervention in nature, which is precisely what Dal Colle was engaging with. Editor: Seeing the hard materials of the aqueduct alongside the labor of the figures makes me appreciate the broader context and the efforts of many people involved in shaping this world. Curator: It’s fascinating how looking at the social history allows us to examine the politics of image-making. Editor: And considering the materiality makes us think about the effort that went into both the landscape and the image itself!