Bas-reliëf met Diana en Callisto 1727

Curator: Here we have "Bas-relief met Diana en Callisto", an engraving made in 1727 by Matthijs Pool and housed right here in the Rijksmuseum. What's your initial reaction to it? Editor: The stark contrasts in this engraving immediately strike me, there’s almost a sculptural quality, achieved with a very clever play of light and shadow. And it feels incredibly intimate, like a stolen glimpse into a private scene. Curator: Exactly! Let's delve into the materials and process a bit. Engravings like this involved a skilled artisan meticulously cutting lines into a metal plate, inking it, and then pressing it onto paper. This process democratized image-making at the time, making these mythological scenes accessible to a broader public than paintings. We must note the engraver’s dependence on reproductive commissions in workshops in this era. Editor: Agreed. And focusing on the visual construction, notice how the artist uses the formal elements: the delicate lines to define the figures’ contours, the denser hatching to create depth and volume? Diana is visually separated by that compositional triangle between her gaze and her body language as well. The composition invites a careful reading of each figure and the overall narrative. Curator: Precisely. Pool wasn't merely replicating an image; he was re-interpreting a classical narrative within the socio-economic framework of printmaking. It reveals assumptions and social structures inherent to 18th century culture via mythology in ways we might understand through labor practices, material choices and patronage relationships of workshop practices. How this art object served consumers must not be disregarded. Editor: Absolutely. The figures feel Mannerist but the Baroque flair comes through especially in Diana's regality. You can almost feel her presence based solely on visual cues, but that reading still requires careful looking that privileges sight and experience, rather than external factors alone, of course! Curator: This piece provides fascinating insights into how myth operated in the daily lives of people beyond wealthy collectors through an accessible reproduction for a budding middle class. Considering the original context really amplifies my experience with its visual features. Editor: True, contextual elements clearly do give deeper meaning. However, engaging with its pure formalism allows its meaning to exist on its own, separate from any outside ideas we might put upon it! I guess this means it stands tall regardless.