[title not known] 

Curator: First impression? Weary. World-worn, even. It’s a small etching, of course, but the detail... it’s breathtaking, a whole life etched in those lines. Editor: This is an interesting piece from the British School, currently held in the Tate collections. It depicts a man, likely a study of a model, and it’s incredibly detailed for such a small work, only 128 by 88 millimetres. Curator: The textures are remarkable. The fur trim of his coat, the rough weave of the head covering...you can almost feel them. What was the function of prints like this, though? Were they popular imagery, or something else? Editor: Well, prints like this would have circulated widely, allowing for the distribution of imagery and ideas. Also, this work has some text that I can make out, Cornelius de Visscher ad vivum. So this image likely comes from a series of images by that engraver. Curator: Interesting. I keep coming back to his gaze. It's not confrontational, but...knowing. As if he's seen it all, and is just waiting for his story to end. What do you think? Editor: The dissemination of images was key in the 17th and 18th centuries; this little piece connected people across vast social and geographic distances. Curator: So much in such a small space. Editor: Indeed. A microcosm of history, you might say.