Izebels lichaam door honden verslonden 1635

Curator: Abraham Bosse created this etching, "Izebels lichaam door honden verslonden," in 1635, currently housed here at the Rijksmuseum. The title translates to "Jezebel's Body Devoured by Dogs." Editor: Well, that’s certainly...graphic. The composition is dominated by these snarling canines tearing at a body; it evokes a visceral response. There's a distinct Baroque sensibility here, full of drama and almost repulsive realism, don't you think? Curator: Absolutely. The dogs themselves are significant; they symbolize divine justice, or perhaps more accurately, divine retribution. Jezebel, as the biblical queen, represented defiance against God, idolatry and immorality. Her gruesome end serves as a stark warning against challenging religious authority. The inscription beneath further hammers home that theme. Editor: And her end was certainly that, quite definitive! But thinking about gender and power, Jezebel has often been framed as this hyper-sexual temptress who wielded influence inappropriately. This etching seems to reinforce a patriarchal narrative where female ambition is punished with extreme violence. Curator: It’s true, the imagery can be interpreted through the lens of the period's anxieties about female power. The crumbling tower in the background and stormy skies might echo that unrest and disturbance, all resulting from one person challenging divine order, resulting in this descent into the profane. Editor: It's fascinating how even in depicting such brutality, there's a carefully constructed moral lesson embedded, used to solidify specific socio-political positions. Is it supposed to make the viewer scared? Is it titillating for certain segments? Hard to parse what 17th century folks felt about this image! Curator: Ultimately, “Jezebel’s Body Devoured by Dogs" is an unsettling image. But beyond the literal depiction of violence, lies a complex intersection of religion, gender, and power in the 17th century. Editor: Indeed, reflecting on it I think the lasting power of the print lies in how it functions as both a spectacle of horror and a cautionary tale about disrupting established hierarchies. Quite chilling.