Text (border, upper right) c. 17th century

Editor: This engraving by Jacques Callot, simply titled "Text (border, upper right)," is a dense block of script framed by ornamental borders. It almost looks like a proclamation. What kind of symbolic weight do you think it carries? Curator: It certainly presents itself with authority. Notice the capitalization, the flourishes in the border, and the overall impression of officialdom. It evokes the tradition of illuminated manuscripts and royal decrees. What kind of cultural memory does this script want to evoke? Editor: So, the visual language is trying to connect to a past tradition of power and legitimacy. Curator: Precisely! It’s not just information, it's a performance of power through visual symbols. It invites us to consider how images construct authority, even in the absence of explicit visual imagery. Editor: That's fascinating – I hadn't thought about text itself as a symbolic image in that way.