Twee natuurkundigen, om hen heen ontlede dieren en baby's op sterkwater 1787

Curator: Brrr, this etching sends a shiver down my spine! So gothic, and not in a romantic way. What do you make of it? Editor: Indeed. This etching, made in 1787 by Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, currently resides in the Rijksmuseum. The title translates to something along the lines of, “Two physicists, surrounded by dissected animals and babies in jars of preserving liquid." A work squarely within Neoclassical traditions. Curator: Neoclassical?! With…babies in jars? It’s so macabre! It's a bit grim, don't you think, this march of progress leaving tiny pickled corpses in its wake? But I suppose science can be cold like that, all reason and dispassion and what have you... Still, quite disturbing. Editor: Precisely, look how the strong horizontals and verticals, the cool tonality achieved through the etching technique, create a sense of order. Even with its grim subject, it is designed to showcase scientific methodology as an ordered pursuit of knowledge. The composition adheres to very formal rules. Curator: Methodology be damned. It seems like this guy, Chodowiecki, couldn’t help but give us the creep factor! But, speaking of design, that line work! And all the paraphernalia that reminds us to not put so much trust on these experimentations... Look, that almost sterile aesthetic doesn't sit right alongside all that death! There’s tension and unease running right through it! Maybe he wanted us to think critically. Editor: He skillfully used etching to achieve incredible detail. The cross-hatching creates volume and shadows, drawing attention to those precise, carefully rendered anatomical studies. Look at how that precise lighting catches all that messy viscera. There is a clear tension that highlights science but it also showcases what is sacrificed for this form of progress. Curator: The "messy viscera" -- love the term! In some ways, maybe it's less a celebration of science and more a commentary on its potential dehumanization. A warning maybe, a glimpse of scientific arrogance. That tension is powerful, even today! Editor: An astute observation that is likely what has kept people returning to this singular etching and considering its formal beauty as a signifier of both hope and terror. Curator: Exactly! Something to contemplate. Even with the baby jars.