Dorp bij nacht 1603 - 1645

This etching, "Village at Night," was created by Matthäus Merian the Elder. The composition, rendered in stark contrasts of light and shadow, plunges us into a nocturnal scene. The artist’s skilled use of line directs the viewer’s eye through the village, the dark facades of buildings looming over the illuminated figures in the foreground. We note the texture of the thatched roofs and the dense foliage, achieved through intricate cross-hatching. The artificial light introduces an element of the uncanny, underscoring the scene with a disquieting stillness. The very structure of this image—the arrangement of light and dark, the interplay of sharp lines and soft textures—challenges the representational norms of its time. It invites us to consider not just what is depicted, but how the medium itself shapes our understanding of the world. Through Merian’s rigorous technique, we are confronted with a meditation on the nature of perception and representation.