Fabel van de herder en de zee 1758

Curator: This engraving, "Fabel van de herder en de zee," or "Fable of the Shepherd and the Sea," dates back to 1758 and was created by Johann Heinrich Meil. It's a small print, quite detailed... What catches your eye? Editor: There's a vulnerability to the scene that gets me. That little cluster of sheep huddled on the shore, practically prostrating themselves before this vast sea and rather manicured storm clouds, and this Shepherd beckoning wildly—it’s pure existential dread in miniature! Curator: The landscape definitely sets a stage. The shepherd with his flock by the water. It evokes so many layered meanings... pastoral innocence meeting the unpredictable nature of the world. Those sheep, for example – often stand as symbols of naiveté and a reliance on a protector. What's interesting is the fable context – is this about the folly of seeking change, wanting something "more?" Editor: That call to adventure that maybe sounds better than it is? It strikes me that ships often represent journeys, change, trade – the outside world coming in. And the way that vessel looms, practically mirroring the posture of the pleading sheep with its billowing sail, is very intentional. Curator: Oh, definitely. The mirror gives off a warning sign, right? Like "be careful what you wish for." What’s cool here is that the Baroque period often uses that type of visual trickery to play with our perception and invite us to read into all of it – everything relates! So you have the Shepherd maybe calling for that transformation that maybe he isn't ready for… Editor: And isn't it like us, as humans, projecting our yearnings onto external forces – in this case, personifying the ocean as something responsive, potentially benevolent? But really, it's this indifferent giant. Meil totally gets that double edge! It all feels incredibly modern. Curator: That’s it! And in choosing print, Meil allows the fable's moral lesson to reach many viewers with different means of affording art. Editor: Thinking of these potent little narratives travelling far and wide adds another evocative layer. So, next time you're at the seaside feeling all "Call of the Wild" you might remember this fable—maybe a bit of quiet self-reflection wouldn't go amiss! Curator: Maybe that’s the real message… Don’t get any big ideas… No but I do hope people give a listen when feeling too “at home.”