Filippo Neri ziet de gezichten van H. Carlo en H. Ignatius oplichten 1630 - 1641

Editor: This is "Filippo Neri Sees the Faces of Saints Carlo and Ignatius Light Up," an engraving by Luca Ciamberlano, dating back to somewhere between 1630 and 1641. It’s currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum. It's really intriguing! The stark lines create this intense, almost mystical feel. The figures seem caught in a moment of divine revelation. What strikes you about this piece? Curator: What grabs me is how Ciamberlano captures that sense of awe and spiritual connection within a relatively confined domestic space. Look at the expressions – those aren't just polite greetings; there's a raw, unfiltered emotional charge in the air. This work almost demands to be *felt* as much as seen. What I always ask myself is, can one really engrave spirituality? Can an essentially graphic process hope to truly grasp the untouchable? Editor: That’s a beautiful question! I'm particularly drawn to how the artist uses light to emphasize the "light up" effect of the faces... a very specific instruction. What about the Baroque elements - do they enhance that effect for you? Curator: The Baroque dynamism, even in such a small format, adds to the heightened drama. There's a real contrast, isn't there, between the meticulously rendered architectural background and the ephemeral, almost supernatural glow around the saints? Do you get the sense that contrast is deliberately created to indicate what exactly feels… out of this world? It is if, and when, earthly matters are overcome. Editor: Definitely. Seeing this interplay helps to unpack the complexity. I feel like I’m seeing a narrative unfold, where the divine interrupts the ordinary, doesn't it? Curator: Precisely! The ordinary world is touched by an otherworldly light, engraved by hand, as we touched it with our imagination today. Editor: Thank you! It seems this print achieves, indeed, an untouchable state of emotion through a simple story very carefully crafted.