Fotoreproductie van het schilderij 'Tentation de saint Hilarion' door Nicolas Tassaert before 1881

Editor: So, here we have a photogravure of Nicolas Tassaert’s painting "The Temptation of Saint Hilarion," dating from before 1881. The tonality seems very dramatic, and the bodies are almost floating. I'm curious, what can you tell me about it from your perspective? Curator: Well, looking at this reproduction, I'm immediately drawn to the labor embedded in its production. Consider the original painting, and the means to replicate it via photogravure. This isn’t simply about high art, but about the craft, the labor and the materials employed for broader consumption of images. Do you think the accessibility afforded by reproductions alters its meaning? Editor: I hadn’t considered it that way, but absolutely. It transforms a singular, presumably inaccessible artwork into something more widely circulated. Curator: Precisely. And let’s think about what a ‘temptation’ meant in pre-industrial Europe versus today. Was Hilarion being tempted to leave behind just his own craft, but his control and access to a new social context afforded by craft guilds of the period? Are these floating figures commodities being offered, made through global, perhaps immoral means? Editor: That's fascinating. The print makes it harder to determine the value of labor in the making of the work as compared to viewing the painting itself. Curator: Indeed! And in turn, this reproductive medium itself introduces its own form of value. The labor is hidden further still behind these industrial processes. Are we complicit consumers then of exploitation when consuming images reproduced en masse? Editor: So the focus isn’t solely on the saint and temptation but the complex systems that make the image itself? That definitely shifts my perception. Curator: Exactly! These layers of materiality challenge traditional art historical interpretation. I now am intrigued to see this perspective applied to this and future artworks.