Lazarus and the Rich Man 1830

Curator: Okay, let's dive in. Editor: We’re looking at an engraving titled "Lazarus and the Rich Man" from 1830. It's housed at The Met. The contrast between the wealthy man and the impoverished figure really jumps out. It feels overtly critical of societal disparities, what’s your interpretation? Curator: The most arresting feature is not just the disparity itself, but *how* it's depicted. Focus on the material details: look at the rendering of clothing, the abundance on the table. It's about visualizing labor and consumption, wouldn't you agree? Editor: Definitely. The detail in rendering of the feast makes me a bit nauseous, it almost makes it like the man has no limits to how much he can consume, meanwhile there is literally "starvation at the door." Curator: Exactly. Consider the artist's choice to use printmaking. Prints allowed for mass production and dissemination. Who do you think the intended audience was for this work? And how would that influence our reading of it? Editor: Probably not the wealthy! The print would have reached a wider, perhaps more working-class, audience. Is the work meant to spark action somehow? Curator: Possibly. It could be meant as commentary on economic systems that enabled such blatant inequity. It challenges those high art/low craft distinctions. Do you think that Romanticism allows us to perceive an undercurrent of empathy to the message about materiality? Editor: That's interesting, so perhaps the artist uses Romanticism's dramatic license to depict materiality and labor with an almost theatrical hyperbole, so to speak. I never really thought about the overlap of style, medium, and cultural messaging. Curator: Precisely. Seeing the interplay of all of these together, as they work together for a collective cultural response, can be compelling.