Deer and Wolf Hunt 1609 - 1621

Editor: This is Antonio Tempesta's "Deer and Wolf Hunt," an etching. It feels like a grand spectacle, but also brutal. What's your take on it? Curator: Considering Tempesta's process as an etcher, we see the means of production reflecting the social structure it depicts: a leisure activity funded by the elite. The labor of many—dogs, hunters, engravers—is harnessed for the entertainment of a few. Editor: So, the etching itself is a product of that social hierarchy? Curator: Precisely. It's not just *of* the hunt, but *by* it. The consumption of resources extends beyond the hunt itself to the creation and distribution of this very image. Editor: I hadn't considered the labor involved in creating the print as part of the artwork's meaning. Thanks! Curator: Thinking about the materiality and production really opens up the work, doesn't it?