Fotoreproductie van een schets door Leonardo da Vinci, voorstellende een vrouwenhoofd c. 1875 - 1900

Curator: Well, isn't this a curious artifact? This is a photographic reproduction of a sketch by Leonardo da Vinci. Attributed to Carlo Naya, and dating from about 1875 to 1900, it's printed on paper. It looks rather sepia-toned. Editor: Yes, almost like a faded memory. The subject’s downcast gaze evokes a sense of quiet contemplation...or perhaps melancholy? The monochrome hues make it difficult to really grasp it though. Curator: The lines are soft. Think about what photography was doing then. This isn't just documenting a work; it's interpreting it, re-presenting Leonardo's touch. Each photograph and each print is itself unique based on labor and materials. How much did the chemicals cost? What kind of paper was used? Editor: Exactly, so much about how the image *feels* comes from choices in the later production... What would Da Vinci think? Photography capturing a drawing... it's art about art, echoing across centuries. How many copies of copies exist now? Curator: Indeed. Leonardo was all about observing, right? What he achieved with ink and paper and light can also be said about photography. And how can we divorce ourselves from that relationship today? So many reproductions made without craft or intent. Editor: Makes you think about art's democratization, doesn't it? Here's this precious Renaissance drawing made available through industrial processes. Though I worry some authenticity gets lost in that translation, that the meaning gets more shallow over time as things go on. Curator: Maybe "lost" isn't quite the word I'd use. I’d suggest something's gained. The dialogue grows, extends. These copies exist beyond Leonardo or Carlo Naya or their intentions, in us, as a continuous echo. What this image does or does not do in the minds of the observer is also very important. Editor: Okay, well I still have to say there is a ghost of the drawing now in the paper fibers here... but also there's the reality of a photographer, paper suppliers, shippers—that makes it all more profound. Curator: I agree. In both Da Vinci’s age and Carlo Naya’s. Thank you for clarifying how time works upon these things!