De soldaat 1675

Curator: Look at this pen engraving titled "De Soldaat," created around 1675 by Giuseppe Maria Mitelli. Editor: Well, my initial thought? He looks quite pleased with himself for someone off to war. A bit jaunty, wouldn’t you say? Curator: It's a showcase of printmaking as a method to both disseminate ideas and reach broad audiences. Consider the social implications of accessing images of military power in one’s home. Editor: True, there's something intriguing about holding the fate of a soldier, or perhaps the whole army, quite literally in the palm of your hand. It is about image manipulation and how reproducible material can inflate reality with symbolism. Curator: Mitelli cleverly uses line work to describe details – the feathers on the helmet, the metal plates of the armor. We might even note the difference in visual texture between these materials. Editor: Precisely! And what’s more baroque than dramatic folds and a grandiose self-presentation? Mitelli creates a stage of perpetual movement around this proud figure, using minimal means to animate him. Is he dancing off to fight? Curator: It's an exercise in craft. By focusing on pen, ink, and engraving, Mitelli offers his audience art as functional knowledge: What does a soldier *look* like? Editor: Exactly! It speaks volumes that he takes pleasure in documenting warfare but frames the narrative as high theatre! Curator: Looking closer, the city in the background, the tents… these provide essential context. We start piecing together narratives of land control, logistics, material investment, and societal strain. Editor: Thinking about process and consumption in art makes me think… were the lines meant to be this visible, raw? Did the material constraint itself serve a greater message, to evoke a specific tone? Curator: Yes! Thanks to such thoughtful making processes and Mitelli’s eye for symbolic impact, each plate in itself makes a statement! Editor: Well, looking at him I cannot help but to find something compelling in this intersection between artistry and social power. This print leaves me with quite a feeling of awe. Curator: Agreed. Studying "De Soldaat," you’re seeing Mitelli’s grasp of the craft, social hierarchies, and war expressed so well in this engraving, and ultimately prompting discussion of both artistic form and its broader circulation.