Gezicht op de Olijfberg 1672

Gaspar Bouttats created this print of the Mount of Olives in the late 17th century, using etching and engraving techniques. This image presents us with an opportunity to consider the politics of imagery. It wasn't made in a vacuum. Bouttats never visited the Holy Land, yet he renders it in great detail. Note the walled city atop the mountain, the biblical scenes in the foreground, and the index that keys points of interest to passages from the Old and New Testaments. This is a rendering of a real place, yet it speaks to European interests and concerns. Religious institutions sponsored artists to create accurate depictions of historically significant sites. The printing press enabled the wide distribution of such views, which, in turn, fed popular European appetites for knowledge of Biblical history and topography. Careful research in period books and archives can reveal the complex social conditions that shaped the production and reception of this seemingly simple print. It’s a reminder that all art is contingent on social and institutional context.