Portret van George IV en Frederik van York als kinderen 1779

Editor: This is "Portret van George IV en Frederik van York als kinderen", from 1779, an engraving by Valentine Green, held at the Rijksmuseum. There’s a certain stiffness in their postures, though the elaborate clothing looks softer in the print than I’d expect. What strikes you most about this work? Curator: The very materiality of this engraving speaks volumes about 18th-century society. Consider the labor involved: the engraver meticulously translating brushstrokes into lines on a metal plate, enabling mass production. These aren’t simply portraits; they're commodities, carefully crafted and circulated to project power and lineage. How do you think that act of reproduction affected the perception of the royal family? Editor: It must have made them seem more accessible, in a way. Were engravings like this widely distributed? Curator: Precisely. They democratized access, but also standardized the image of royalty. Look at the fabrics rendered – the velvet, the ermine – they signify status, but the engraving process flattens them. There’s a tension between the depiction of luxury and the industrial process of its reproduction, wouldn't you agree? What impact might that have? Editor: That's a good point. Almost like mass-produced 'luxury'. It’s interesting how the handcraft element in the creation gets overshadowed. I hadn’t thought of it that way before. Curator: So we start to consider how materials and the means of production influenced perceptions of class and value, far beyond the individual artistry of the image. It's a question of understanding the artwork as a product of its time, rather than just a representation of it. Editor: I'll definitely think differently about engravings now. Seeing the material production side makes so much sense.