Novelli before 1880

Editor: We’re looking at “Novelli,” a print on paper that seems to be bound into a book. It was created before 1880 and resides in the Rijksmuseum. It’s giving me a really somber, almost theatrical feeling, with all the figures gathered around the table in a very formal setting. What do you see in this piece from a historical perspective? Curator: I see an intricate reflection of 18th and 19th-century monastic life and the public’s fascination with such institutions. The text, which is part of the print, seems to describe the rituals of mealtime. It brings to mind questions of how such imagery functioned within broader cultural ideas about religion and community, perhaps even exoticizing them. What's the relationship between the image and the text? Editor: The text on the right describes what’s happening in the image to the left – a silent meal in a monastery, including a novice reading scripture. The text and image together reinforce a narrative. How might its public role have differed from the role it had inside the monastery? Curator: That’s a crucial point. While ostensibly descriptive, prints like these, especially when included in books, were often marketed to a wider, secular audience, feeding a voyeuristic interest in cloistered lives. It suggests the socio-political dynamic of monasteries in public imagination. Who do you think would buy a book with engravings like this? Editor: Perhaps travelers, or those who were interested in learning more about religious orders from afar. I didn’t initially think about that public appetite for viewing a world you couldn’t access. Curator: Exactly! And thinking about how this print, embedded within a book, participated in constructing a specific image of monastic communities for public consumption is crucial. What have we learned today? Editor: I’ve learned to consider not only what’s depicted, but how the artwork functions as a cultural object. Now I understand that its location in the public space of a book reveals its cultural impact on shaping our perspectives. Thank you for guiding me!