A Bull Fighting a Lion 1600

Curator: The sheer struggle of this image grabs you, doesn't it? Antonio Tempesta, who lived from 1555 to 1630, created this etching, titled *A Bull Fighting a Lion*. Editor: It's a violent dance, a sort of material ballet etched into the paper. Look at the pressure the artist put on the plate to get these lines this dark. Curator: I know. It's like Tempesta is reminding us, with every cross-hatched line, that life is a battle, a collision of wills and desires. Editor: Well, it's also a clever commercial product, designed for easy reproduction and mass consumption. Conflict sells, then and now. These images are also about asserting dominance through animal combat. Curator: Perhaps. But I think there's also a primal scream here, a raw grappling with mortality. Editor: I agree, this image is about something more than the image itself. The image’s symbolic and material violence has a powerful resonance that is still present today.