Foltering: onderdompeling in kokende olie 1565 - 1630

Curator: Look at this intense image—an engraving called "Foltering: onderdompeling in kokende olie," dating somewhere between 1565 and 1630. It is currently held at the Rijksmuseum and attributed to Antonio Tempesta. Editor: My word! It's certainly...vivid. Darkly so. There’s a kind of clinical detachment to it despite the graphic content. All those different ways of inflicting harm, neatly arranged. Gruesome experimentation rendered in print. Curator: Clinical is a good word. As if this isn't just a single act of violence but some terrible culinary arts demonstration, showing multiple techniques. A disturbing how-to guide. I imagine Tempesta was influenced by the theatrical baroque style and sought to provoke a strong emotional response. Editor: Right, but think about the actual making of this thing. Engraving is labor. Copperplate, tools, the press… it's a manufacturing process of violence itself. Each print becomes a reproducible commodity, each a perpetuation, endlessly multiplied and sold. How much did these things retail for at the time, I wonder? Curator: An unsettling thought—violence as commerce. But beyond the potential monetization, don’t you find it chilling how Tempesta meticulously renders each bubbling cauldron? Editor: Sure, but it also interests me, technically. How is "bubbling" translated through those lines and textures? It almost fetishizes the properties of these objects, as tools to impose will, instruments ready to be put to the service of the inquisitors—to do evil, but exquisitely well. Curator: Absolutely! And beyond the materials used for torture, observe how the architecture in the background frames the scene. Buildings that appear oddly placid for the horror unfolding. Editor: Perhaps meant to evoke permanence or power, suggesting torture's a foundational component? It's as though Tempesta is suggesting those who perpetrate it always exist within and behind this civil edifice. Curator: Well, thinking about the implications of this piece is certainly something I didn't expect from an average day in the museum. Editor: Indeed. This is something to consider on your way home... And maybe avoid taking a bath anytime soon.