Valley with the River Xanto 1667

Curator: This is Matthäus Küsel's "Valley with the River Xanto," a landscape print in the collection of the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It has a gloomy, almost gothic feel, doesn't it? The stark contrasts in the etching make everything feel so imposing. Curator: Landscape prints like this one often functioned as both aesthetic objects and documents of specific places, reflecting early modern interests in topography and the picturesque. Editor: I'm drawn to how the river cuts right through the heart of it, guiding your eye deeper into the scene and past those running deer, it's like a stage. Curator: Indeed, Küsel uses the conventions of landscape to also explore ideas about nature and the human relationship to the environment. Editor: Well, I can almost smell the pines and feel the cool dampness of that valley... makes you wonder what stories those trees could tell.