Fotoreproductie van een fresco, voorstellende het Laatste Oordeel c. 1870 - 1880

This is a photographic reproduction of a fresco depicting The Last Judgement, made by an anonymous artist. Photographic reproductions allowed for the broad distribution of images. This one, carefully pasted into a book, invites us to consider the materiality of reproduction and its effect on the artwork’s cultural value. The photograph is a flat, monochrome translation of a vast, colorful, multidimensional fresco. The original was painstakingly crafted over years, by a skilled artisan. Here it is captured in an instant by chemical and mechanical processes. The photograph transforms the fresco into a commodity, readily available for private contemplation. This shift from public spectacle to intimate object democratizes access, but also alters the fresco’s intended impact. The photograph invites us to question the relationship between labor, value, and the changing nature of artistic experience in an age of mass production.