Het effect van het geloof op de zintuigen after 1638

Editor: Here we have Cornelis Galle I's engraving, "Het effect van het geloof op de zintuigen," made after 1638. It’s a Baroque print currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. It strikes me as rather dramatic, almost theatrical. There's a clear division in the scene with figures reacting in very different ways. What do you make of it all? Curator: Ah, yes! It's so interesting, isn't it? Imagine faith, the absolute, intervening where our senses fail. Cornelis Galle gives us such rich theatrical allegory that invites the imagination! Consider the Baroque obsession with light and shadow, capturing an intensely spiritual moment – faith as a guiding light to perceive beyond earthly means. Doesn’t the artist create such striking tension? It makes one wonder what truths lie hidden, only revealed by belief... and are those truths tangible for all of us, equally? Editor: I see your point about the light guiding people... But why do some figures seem repulsed while others reach for it? Curator: I think it reveals a crucial tension – those rejecting the light symbolize sensory reliance. They trust only what they can see, touch, or measure, resisting the unknown, perhaps even fearing the loss of control. Editor: So, the figures bathed in light have surrendered their earthly senses? It’s a potent message about faith trumping rational thought. But what about us, today? Are we too entrenched in what we perceive, rather than what we believe? Curator: Now *that’s* a question worth contemplating... this Baroque engraving is suddenly achingly contemporary!