Aanbidding door de herders 1633 - 1700

Curator: Welcome. We’re looking at “The Adoration of the Shepherds,” an engraving housed here at the Rijksmuseum. It was completed sometime between 1633 and 1700, by Jean Pesne. Editor: Immediately I get a feeling of humble reverence…a hush settling over everything. Even though it's static, it hums with contained energy, doesn't it? Curator: The scene is carefully arranged, echoing a well-worn visual language. We see the shepherds kneeling, their staffs cast aside, which are potent symbols of surrendering worldly authority. Mary is draped in a cloak suggesting purity and motherhood, mirroring archetypal Madonnas from centuries before. Editor: That light around the baby...it's subtle in the engraving, but it’s practically screaming. Not in a terrifying way. It's a sort of announcement. Light cutting through the humbleness of the place… Curator: Precisely! That infant symbolizes hope, and its portrayal links directly to traditions of representing divine luminescence. Light and darkness, innocence and experience—these contrasting elements have long defined religious iconography. Look at how the dark barn creates a stage for this radiant child. Editor: I can almost feel the roughness of the ground beneath them. I imagine there's something very tactile about the emotional experience here for these characters. Curator: The composition directs our gaze in a controlled manner, from the peripheral figures toward the central subject. Pesne employs familiar tropes to express spiritual ideas within established narratives. Note, even, how he frames the scene, mimicking theatrical performance. Editor: So, not an accidental gathering, is what you're saying. There's deliberate curation even within the adoration itself! The postures, the faces, each detail contributes to this carefully constructed feeling…It's powerful stuff. Curator: A powerful image because its creator drew upon a wealth of visual and cultural memory. And continues to resonate even now. Editor: It asks us to reflect not just on the scene, but on how stories and feelings echo through time. Nice to ponder that a bit.