Manuscript page with a Project for a Fountain (recto) and Project and Plan for a Monumental Staircase (verso) 1740 - 1760

Editor: This is a manuscript page dating from around 1740 to 1760 by Luigi Vanvitelli. It's a drawing in ink, depicting a project for a fountain on one side, and a monumental staircase on the other. I'm struck by the detail despite the looseness of the sketch. How would you interpret this work, especially considering Vanvitelli’s process? Curator: Looking at this drawing, I'm immediately drawn to the labor implied, not just by Vanvitelli's hand, but by the vast armies of workers needed to realize these Baroque fantasies. Notice the sheer scale proposed; the consumption of materials—stone, water, metal—and the energy required for these projects would have been astronomical. Editor: So you see the drawing less as a beautiful image, and more as evidence of resource extraction and social structure? Curator: Precisely! Consider also the social context. Who commissions such grandeur? What message does this send about power, control, and the ability to mobilize both capital and labor? Baroque wasn’t just a style; it was an entire mode of production, a visual expression of hierarchies and consumption. What purpose do the prints serve other than as templates for this consumption? Editor: That’s a very different way to look at it! I was focused on the artistry, but you're making me think about the logistics and the underlying social dynamics that enabled such projects. Curator: Exactly. And how this intersects with class. Where did those raw materials come from? Who suffered to extract and transport them? How does understanding these factors alter our appreciation, or perhaps our critique, of this seemingly beautiful drawing? Editor: I see now, focusing on the material reality adds layers of complexity. I’ll definitely view Baroque art differently going forward. Curator: And that's the beauty of materialist perspectives – revealing the often-hidden stories embedded in art’s creation and its consumption.