Fotoreproductie van een prent naar een schilderij van het vertrek van La Fleur uit A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy van Laurence Sterne door Edward Matthew Ward before 1873

Curator: Here we have a photogravure predating 1873 after Edward Matthew Ward’s rendition of “The Departure of La Fleur,” inspired by Laurence Sterne’s *A Sentimental Journey*. Its subdued monochrome creates an antique ambiance, what are your first thoughts? Editor: It immediately strikes me as quite theatrical—a stage-like composition packed with figures frozen in expressions of exaggerated grief. The overall tone is overwhelmingly sentimental, almost bordering on caricature. Curator: Indeed. Observe how Ward orchestrates the scene within the print. He has skillfully arranged the characters into distinct groupings, each reacting to La Fleur’s departure. Note how the architectural structure contains this dispersion to offer us focused planes within the composition. Editor: Yes, that carefully crafted grief really reinforces its theatrical quality. But there’s also something very genuine happening. The act of departure always invokes profound and universal sentiments. The embracing, hand-wringing, and mournful gestures are symbols that visually convey feelings. Curator: That may be. The artist deliberately leans into conventions typical of genre painting of that era, emphasizing emotional resonance rather than empirical accuracy, one might suggest. What are some indicators? Editor: The composition uses depth of field and contrasting lighting to place a narrative of leaving center-stage in our understanding of love, connection and friendship. The fact that there are even words within the page, "Sterne's Sentimental Journey," underscores this intent of human relationship! Curator: Well observed, for indeed, the incorporation of language itself as image is quite strategic. Ward is working directly from an extremely influential and much loved piece of sentimental fiction of the late 18th century! Editor: It's clear how images can work to evoke these deeply human connections with narratives of shared loss. This print functions not just as a scene but as a vehicle for universal sentiment and experiences of grief and the narrative possibilities embedded inside romantic connection. Curator: Precisely, in breaking apart some formal assumptions of narrative within an artwork such as this we have allowed for a fruitful intersubjective account, wouldn't you agree? Editor: I would agree, and together we have considered how symbols create an enduring cultural legacy, and how that relates to artistic form.