Heilige Hilarion de Grote als kluizenaar 1644

Christoffel van Sichem II created this woodcut depicting Saint Hilarion of Gaza as a hermit in the Netherlands, sometime in the early to mid-17th century. Hilarion appears in a sparsely furnished dwelling, a book in his hands and a string of beads at his side. In the 17th century, the Dutch Republic was one of Europe’s major centers for printmaking. The market for prints was driven by the rise of a wealthy merchant class, eager to express its status through the collection of art. The institutions of the church were less powerful in the Netherlands than in other European countries, and the traditional subjects of religious art were often re-imagined to reflect the values of the new social order. Here, Hilarion is not depicted in a grand setting, but in a modest dwelling that may have resonated with the Dutch ideals of simplicity and piety. To understand this work better, we could research the place of monastic orders in Dutch society, or examine how the rise of print collecting changed the way artists represented religious subjects. The meaning of art is always shaped by its social and institutional context.