Mozes wordt gevonden 1656 - 1706

Curator: The balance of light and dark here is remarkable. Editor: Indeed. We're standing before Étienne Gantrel's engraving, "Mozes wordt gevonden," or "The Finding of Moses." Dating from between 1656 and 1706, this print on paper vividly illustrates a key moment from the Book of Exodus. Curator: The composition pulls you right in, doesn't it? That strong diagonal leading to the figures clustered around the infant Moses... Editor: Absolutely. I am struck by the conditions in which engravings like this were produced and circulated. This print would have allowed broader access to the narrative, wouldn't it, far beyond those who could afford paintings? This democratizing element seems crucial when evaluating such works. What do you make of the formal staging here? It appears less spontaneous, more classically staged. Curator: That's an astute point. There is a deliberate theatricality in the figures’ poses and the detailed rendering of the drapery—note how they lead the eye across the scene, adding a sense of dynamism. The artist invites close examination of how he orients the landscape to reinforce emotional content. Editor: And, let’s not forget the material reality. The use of paper, the labor invested in carving those lines…these prints served as a key vehicle for disseminating not only religious narratives but also, and very subtly, aesthetic and class values within 17th- and 18th-century European society. Curator: A complex dance between the intrinsic artistic vision and broader social and cultural currents then. Editor: Precisely. It shows how an ostensibly religious work becomes implicated in a web of power and influence through its means of production and consumption. It invites a reading against the grain. Curator: It enriches how we see Gantrel’s "Finding of Moses," moving it from a simple biblical illustration into a layered piece ripe for modern critical analysis. Thank you!