View from the rear of this curule chair 

Curator: This striking print is titled "View from the rear of this curule chair" by Giovanni Battista Piranesi. The method combines etching and engraving on paper. What strikes you most about this representation? Editor: It has an imposing and almost sinister quality, doesn’t it? The rigid symmetry and stark black-and-white contrast give it a theatrical, almost forbidding presence. The canine figures look both supportive and threatening. Curator: Indeed. Consider that Piranesi, although known for his architectural fantasies, was deeply engaged with the social realities of labor and the processes of artistic production in 18th-century Rome. His engravings often served as both artworks and commodities, reaching a broad audience through printmaking's accessibility. Editor: From a formal perspective, notice how the rigidity of the lines and the emphasis on geometric forms create a sense of monumental scale, despite it depicting just a chair. The stark tonal range directs your gaze upwards. The chair becomes an oppressive throne. Curator: I find myself thinking about who labored to create this seat of power – to quarry and carve the stone, forge the metal, weave the fabric, and then, of course, Piranesi’s own labor to create this print, each step embedded within the finished artwork and in this view we see from behind, that work is essentially 'holding' the chair. Editor: That's interesting. I see the chair's construction more as Piranesi manipulating visual cues, creating an elaborate fiction of importance through a precise, almost diagrammatic rendering, its own process creating new meaning beyond its physical potentiality. Curator: Well, his manipulation, as you say, allowed wider access, both of owning artwork and of being able to view historical sites he carefully reproduced through engraving. It’s all a commercial endeavour, ultimately democratizing access. Editor: Perhaps. Still, as a singular piece, it functions so compellingly in its dramatic isolation through his precise engraving. Curator: Considering both the visual language and material conditions surrounding its production offers such richness here. Editor: Agreed. Each approach certainly reveals a different facet of its complexity.