The Capture of Troy 

Editor: Right now we're looking at "The Capture of Troy," a print by Antoine Jacquard. It's got that incredibly detailed, almost frenetic energy of an engraving. My first thought is how theatrical it is, like a scene frozen from a very intense play. What grabs you about this piece? Curator: Oh, theatrical is absolutely the word. But it's more than just drama, isn't it? It's about how stories are told and retold, reshaped through the lens of each artist and era. Here, Jacquard isn’t just depicting the sack of Troy, he's interpreting a legend. See how the figures almost spill out of the circular frame, bursting with emotion, a swirling chaos contained by artifice. What do you make of the figures, these survivors and conquerors, arranged so carefully? Editor: They look almost posed, despite the violence of the scene. Like they are aware they are being immortalized or used as teaching material for great painting and sculpture… sort of… It's like they are enacting a version for a classical taste. What's your feeling about the framing used? Does this artwork make the viewer complicit somehow in these historic acts of violence? Curator: Precisely! That tension between staged presentation and brutal reality… I think that gets to the heart of historical narrative art. It invites us, or perhaps *challenges* us, to question how we frame history, to interrogate those who were the victors and those who disappeared. To view those captured, maybe? Is our gaze more forgiving because it's rendered beautifully, aesthetically, from times past? Is it possible that we’re desensitized as viewers due to over exposure and too much narrative and repetition. Editor: It makes you wonder about all the untold stories buried beneath the grand narratives that we have become so familiar with over time. I feel more prepared to question these narratives now! Curator: Exactly. Art, at its best, throws those questions back at us like a beautifully etched mirror, so maybe, after all is said and done, there might be a chance of seeing ourselves more clearly!