The cook and his wife 1494 - 1497

Editor: Standing here, we have "The Cook and His Wife," an engraving made by Albrecht Dürer sometime between 1494 and 1497. The starkness of the lines and the detail captured with the engraving tool are remarkable. What draws my attention is the detail in the figures' clothes and the textures Dürer creates. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It is vital to remember that this is an engraving; we see not just an image, but the result of physical labor, a collaboration between artist, tool, and metal. Dürer’s skill transformed copper into a matrix for the mass production of imagery, democratizing art through distribution. Editor: Democratizing art? How so? Curator: The print medium allowed images, and therefore ideas, to circulate with increasing ease and volume to those who couldn't afford original artworks. Looking at the "cook's" tools gives you a glimpse into labor and food preparation during this time period. Editor: It's interesting to consider this artwork through that lens, that the materiality of print is inextricably linked to labor and dissemination of imagery. Now, considering their dress and those tools... how do they speak about their status? Curator: Precisely! Dürer prompts us to think about class and consumption. His lines create not only a depiction of a cook and his wife but also invites contemplation about production of resources, material access and the economics of image-making and consumption in Renaissance society. Editor: That reframes it entirely for me. I’d only thought of engravings as being lesser in comparison to painting, but they offer such different insights into society. Curator: Yes, shifting our focus from “high art” to the conditions of art making transforms how we understand its purpose and power!