Plate XXI 18th-19th century

Curator: Editor: This is Plate XXI by Jacques-Francois-Joseph Swebach, currently residing at the Harvard Art Museums. It has a frenetic energy. I'm curious, what strikes you most about this piece? Curator: It's the chaos rendered with such precision, isn’t it? The artist captures the frenzy of battle, yet each line is so deliberate. To me, it feels like a dance with death, a macabre ballet. Editor: A ballet? I see the chaos, but not the elegance. Curator: Elegance in the lines, perhaps, rather than the subject! The crisp strokes, almost flippant in their confidence, seem to revel in depicting something so brutal. Do you see that tension? Editor: I think I do now. It's like the artist is both repulsed and fascinated. Curator: Exactly! It's in that push and pull that the magic lies. A perspective of war from a removed standpoint. Editor: Well, I will never see another battle the same way again!