Study for a Mantel and Overmantel 1690 - 1785

Editor: This is "Study for a Mantel and Overmantel," a pencil drawing from the late 17th or 18th century, housed at the Met. I’m struck by the asymmetry and the flowing, almost organic lines. What sociopolitical messages can we unpack from this drawing? Curator: An interesting question! First, consider the function of a mantelpiece. Who commissioned these designs? This object really signals a specific kind of power structure in that era. What does the drawing communicate about the intended inhabitants? How might this type of opulent domestic architecture relate to, say, the rise of colonialism and the acquisition of wealth through exploitative practices? Editor: So, it’s less about the aesthetics and more about what the aesthetics represent in the broader culture? Curator: Precisely! The very *form* speaks volumes. Consider Neoclassicism, that style rooted in ideas of hierarchy. How do the landscapes and depictions of the idealized natural world reinforce existing class structures and social hierarchies? Editor: Right. And thinking about this as a design for a domestic space, that intended control would impact not only the person living in the space, but visitors and subsequent owners, too. I hadn't considered that before. Curator: Exactly. So what have you gleaned by considering the history of colonialism in connection to form? What broader connections can be drawn with sociopolitical themes when applied to architectural designs such as "Study for a Mantel and Overmantel?" Editor: I can definitely see that architecture and even interior design are visual tools that historically reinforced hierarchies. Now I have a better framework to consider domestic architecture as reflecting societal structures. Curator: Wonderful. Thinking about art and society through an intersectional lens allows us to gain insight that looking at its aesthetic beauty alone never would.