De engel wijst Hagar een bron in de woestijn 1707

Curator: Up next we have "The Angel Points Out the Well to Hagar in the Wilderness" created by Bernard Picart in 1707. The piece resides here in the Rijksmuseum. Editor: It's so stark. Look at the use of line in this engraving. Everything is suggested with such economy, yet it still conveys such a raw, emotional story. I can almost feel the grit of that desert landscape. Curator: This is from the Book of Genesis. Hagar, Abraham’s servant, and her son Ishmael were cast out into the desert. In this scene, an angel intervenes to save them. Editor: See how Picart has used a polished burnishing technique to create a real atmospheric perspective. It guides my eye across the harsh landscape, over the languishing figure of Hagar, finally resting on the divinely presented infant. The lack of shade is particularly jarring, creating tension that heightens Hagar's desperation. The materiality of it too– an engraving reproduced and disseminated, speaks to accessible storytelling, away from precious oil paints. Curator: I always find Hagar’s pose so affecting. She is both resigned and hopeful. Look how the artist uses her as the pivot in the narrative arc, suspended between divine intervention and earthly suffering. Does her pose imply faith? Does the weight of the knowledge of that fateful angel weaken or embolden her resolve? It’s such a paradox. Editor: I agree, there's real drama in the labor inherent to the production, both represented and literally performed by Picart's precise and thoughtful handiwork on the copperplate. Each etched line, each dark mark— evidence of countless hours spent translating divine and emotional moments. Curator: The barren landscape really evokes that sense of being abandoned, doesn't it? That contrast of vastness and vulnerability, that’s where the resonance lies for me. Editor: Precisely. In that labor we find a story far more accessible than what one initially anticipates. Curator: This engraving offers a reminder of faith, strength, and survival against the odds. A potent reflection, wouldn't you agree?