The Exodus from Egypt c. 1579

Editor: This is Johann Sadeler I's "The Exodus from Egypt." It's a print, but it has this amazing hand-colored quality. The scene feels so full, almost chaotic. What stands out to you in this image? Curator: Consider how the image functions within the broader historical narrative of religious persecution and freedom. Sadeler, working during a period of intense religious conflict, presents Exodus as a pivotal moment of liberation, but it also reflects contemporary social anxieties about displacement and the construction of national identity. How might contemporary audiences have interpreted it? Editor: So, it’s not just a religious story, but a statement about their own time? Curator: Precisely. Art often speaks across centuries, echoing and reshaping cultural narratives. Editor: That makes me see it differently now.