Slapende stalknecht met heks en paard 1532 - 1536

Curator: This is a print by Hans Baldung, titled "Slapende stalknecht met heks en paard," created between 1532 and 1536. Baldung was a student of Dürer and the work is in the Northern Renaissance style, done in engraving. Editor: Wow, that's quite the visual. At first glance, it’s unsettling. A disorienting perspective, and a sense of dark, impending chaos hangs over everything. Is it supposed to be funny, or foreboding, or both? Curator: It is open to interpretation, which may be intentional. In the image, we see a stable-boy collapsed in the foreground. Above him, a horse dominates the frame. Peering over the stable wall is a witch. Editor: Okay, so there's our unsettling element! The composition is so odd—that backside of the horse looming large! And this hag leering over, like a twisted stage director ready to unleash something nasty. Baldung definitely had a flair for the macabre. The Northern Renaissance really liked its witches, didn’t it? Curator: Indeed. Witches were a frequent theme, often associated with the darker undercurrents of societal anxieties, times of plague and religious division. The witch figure became a potent symbol, linking folklore with tangible fears. Editor: It also kind of gives you that voyeuristic sense. You're not supposed to see her looking at that stable boy; that poor unsuspecting stable boy. And the sharp contrast of light and shadow intensifies the mystery. Curator: It also serves to emphasize the moral dimensions that people reading images from that era may have perceived. Genre painting mixed with themes of temptation and everyday life… a cautionary vision, if you will. Editor: Right, and it plays into the stereotypes of the time – where things appear calm on the surface. It makes you wonder about who he intended to shock with this print, what was going on culturally and what those people were so nervous about back then. Curator: It invites conversation even today about those exact sentiments and ideas. And hopefully, allows us to consider their echoes in present day society and life. Editor: Definitely makes you think… thanks for pointing out such a dark jewel, if you can call it that!