Engel geketend aan de wereld 1628

Christoffel van Sichem II created this small woodcut, "Angel Chained to the World," sometime before his death in 1658. The image is made by cutting away the negative space around the lines, leaving a raised surface to receive ink, a relief printing process. This requires tremendous skill to carve fine, detailed lines. Note how the artist rendered the angel's robes and feathers, each requiring hundreds of tiny cuts. Woodcut is an old technique, here made new. While the Bible was the most common subject for these prints, Sichem has made an allegory. We see an angel, hobbled by a ball and chain, tethered to a child. His eyes are cast upward towards another angel in the sky. The image can be read as a critique of earthly temptations, or perhaps how innocence can keep us from spiritual ascension. The level of detail and the quality of the print raise it above the status of mere devotional object. It is a work of art, in which the materiality and process are integral to its meaning.