Men bringing bags of lead into Saint Benedict's monastery 1687 - 1717

Curator: Giacomo-Maria Giovannini's engraving, "Men bringing bags of lead into Saint Benedict's monastery," likely created between 1687 and 1717, depicts a scene of arduous labor outside what seems to be a grand structure. What strikes you about it initially? Editor: That light. Even in monochrome, the artist has created such stark contrasts. It's theatrical, almost. You can almost feel the weight of those sacks pressing down on the straining bodies. And a little humor too. Curator: Absolutely, the drama is palpable. Baroque art often sought to evoke strong emotional responses. We see that here, but this wasn't originally conceived as an autonomous artwork. It reproduces one of the frescoes on the nave vault of San Michele in Bosco. The painter was collaborating with Agostino Metelli, who executed ornamental framework while his role consisted of providing narrative figures, which make up the episodes from the Life of Saint Benedict. Editor: The strain! See how their muscles ripple, contorted by the weight. Yet there’s this serene architectural backdrop; almost mocks the human struggle in the foreground. So it invites reflection; that gap between physical effort and institutional... permanence, if you will. Curator: Yes, and the composition leads the eye both upward, to the figure gesturing atop the steps, and downward, grounding us in the immediate, tangible world of labor. Consider too, the function of prints in this period. This would have circulated widely. How did images such as this reflect Benedictine values, or project their power? Editor: A question, it seems. It depends. Either that labour itself is ennobling; even sanctified somehow by its proximity to the monastery or those who administer them might like us to know that some toil is, well, other. They certainly make that labour look, frankly, epic. The scale does impress! The message: devotion made material. Curator: It encapsulates so many threads of its time: faith, labor, and the ambition of the Baroque. Editor: Makes you think about the unseen costs, doesn't it? And those bags of lead. It just does. A beautiful paradox—weight made weightless on paper.