Berecynthia (Cybele) met Jupiter en Pluto 1693

Editor: This is Samuel Bottschild’s 1693 engraving, “Berecynthia (Cybele) met Jupiter en Pluto," housed here at the Rijksmuseum. The detail is incredible. It feels…theatrical. Almost like looking at a scene from an elaborate stage production. What draws your eye when you look at it? Curator: Oh, the theatricality is spot on. Baroque art often aimed for that grand, dramatic effect. What pulls me in? It's the audacity of it all. This print is positively brimming with symbolism, isn’t it? Berecynthia, or Cybele, the ancient Phrygian mother of the gods riding in her chariot, pulled by those magnificent lions. Look at her serene face in contrast with their raw power. A contrast amplified by Zeus/Jupiter and Pluto sitting underneath that glowing sun/moon, which provides light and structure for the whole composition! This piece invites one into another world where myths were interwoven with everyday life. Does it provoke any thoughts about power and fertility? Editor: Definitely the idea of power…both Cybele and her lions give off strength. What about fertility? Does it relate to her being the "mother of gods?" Curator: Precisely! Cybele was closely associated with fertility, nature, and the wild. This piece is a symbolic landscape – it presents complex systems within our reality, or rather realities coexisting in the world! Do you notice the figures hidden amongst the chariot? This reinforces themes about past versus the future…a visual depiction which is often ignored but carries important keys for interpretation. Editor: I see them now! I never would have noticed. This artwork now has so many hidden elements that I couldn't see before, thank you for highlighting all that. Curator: Absolutely. That is what the Baroque Period is all about, isn't it? A new way of seeing with fresh eyes.