Portret van Etienne en Joseph Montgolfier in een medaillon 1783 - 1814

Curator: This engraving presents a profile portrait of Etienne and Joseph Montgolfier, esteemed for their pioneering work with hot air balloons. It's dated between 1783 and 1814 and strikes me as neoclassical in its stark depiction. Editor: My first impression is…cold. Almost clinical. It’s like looking at a scientific diagram rather than a warm portrait. What's with the strange stone block below the double portrait? Is it a plinth for a sculpture that doesn't exist? Curator: In a way, it IS like a scientific diagram! These men were celebrated for their advancements. The inscription indicates this print was intended to memorialize the Montgolfier brothers' legacy on a medal commemorating their achievement. The material, or rather the printed representation of the marble-like busts, further elevates them. Editor: That context adds a layer. So it's not just about the final invention, the balloon itself, but also about immortalizing their contribution to progress. It all reduces their legacy to raw material, almost…like intellectual property waiting to be extracted and commodified. Look how that the sculptural rendering diminishes their humanity. Curator: Absolutely. The visual language certainly echoes the era's focus on reason and order, placing these inventors within a classical lineage. Neoclassicism aimed to create art with moral instruction. Editor: So even the medium itself - this precise, reproducible engraving - is integral to that messaging. Printing allowed these images, and the ideas attached to them, to spread rapidly, fueling the Enlightenment's obsession with disseminating knowledge widely and establishing these gentlemen as heroes. What do you think their workers thought when they saw this idealized image, I wonder. Curator: An interesting perspective, but consider also the intention to create lasting emblems of civic virtue. The Montgolfier brothers represented French innovation on a global stage. Their work quite literally elevated French society. Editor: Well, it elevated the image of it anyway. Thanks to advancements in the processes of both ballooning and printmaking! Now, as viewers, we can see the confluence of technology, political messaging, and the careful crafting of a national myth. Curator: Indeed. Seeing it through this lens offers fresh respect for its layers.