Figures from "Les Fantaisies," after Callot c. 19th century

Editor: This is Adrian Ludwig Richter's "Figures from 'Les Fantaisies,' after Callot". I find the presentation of these figures in a neat grid quite intriguing. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Richter’s etching is a copy after Jacques Callot, situating it within a tradition of printmaking as a method of disseminating imagery and ideas. What do you make of the figures themselves? Editor: They remind me of actors or performers. Are they characters from popular stories? Curator: Precisely. Callot was known for depicting commedia dell'arte figures. Richter is engaging with a well-established visual culture, but transforming it through his own style and the act of reproduction. Editor: So, Richter is both preserving and reinterpreting Callot's work, commenting on their cultural significance? Curator: Yes, and by placing them in such a regimented grid, Richter almost transforms them into specimens, to be studied. Editor: I see how Richter uses his reproduction to show us the social history of imagery and performance through Callot.