The Last Words of Jean Jacques Rousseau 1775

Editor: So, this is Heinrich Guttenberg's "The Last Words of Jean Jacques Rousseau," an etching from 1775, currently housed at the Art Institute of Chicago. I’m really struck by the staging. It feels so…deliberate. How would you interpret this print? Curator: Given my focus, I look at the material reality here. It's an etching, a readily reproducible medium in 1775. Think about what that meant: this image of Rousseau, dying and delivering profound final words, became easily circulated among the populace. What is the impact of Guttenberg choosing *this* specific medium? Editor: I suppose it democratizes his last moments... it moves them from the realm of the elite and distributes it, physically, through affordable prints? Curator: Precisely. We need to also examine the means of production. An etching like this would involve the labor of not just Guttenberg, but the papermakers, the printers, the distributors. Consider the social network required to produce and circulate such an image. Think, too, of the social context. What meaning would viewers at the time derive, encountering this manufactured image? What do you make of the stark contrast between the supposed “natural philosopher” and the carefully staged, almost theatrical scene depicted here? Editor: It’s a bit jarring, the Rococo aesthetic paired with Rousseau's ideals. Almost a commodity version of "dying words." Curator: Yes! See how that materiality underscores a tension within Rousseau's own philosophy – his critiques of artifice, presented through a highly crafted object itself reliant on industrial-like production and distribution? That makes us think about the commodification of sentiment. Editor: I didn't consider that – how the print itself embodies some of the contradictions Rousseau wrestled with. So, it’s not just the image, but the *thingness* of it, the materials and processes that really speak here. Curator: Exactly. Materiality gives the piece deeper meaning than its literal representation.