Ooievaar met babies voor een huisdeur 1846 - 1879

Curator: Isn't this print charming? It's called "Stork with Babies at a Doorstep," created sometime between 1846 and 1879 by Edouard Taurel. You can find it here at the Rijksmuseum. The old engraving style always takes me to a sentimental mood. Editor: My initial impression is one of sweet awkwardness! It's such a literal interpretation of the stork delivering babies, and the slightly cross-eyed stork makes me smile. I see a symbol of abundance, certainly, and family continuation—a classic motif in visual arts. Curator: Absolutely. There's a deeper, romanticized idea of home life present, don't you think? It’s not just about the stork delivering babies; it reflects on family hopes, maybe prosperity as well. The style hints at an ideal. I wonder what this image conveyed when it was made. Editor: Definitely, there is so much iconography embedded here, a cultural shorthand of blessings arriving. It triggers nostalgia, reminding us that some narratives have been consistently important throughout art history, which gives images this odd staying power, don’t you think? The little vignettes have the effect of a medieval "door to paradise". Curator: Ah, door to paradise, love it. Perhaps. What’s striking to me is the deliberate quaintness—a slightly heightened reality we want to believe in. It gives the old saying "The stork brought you" tangible, visual life. You see this repeated with flying pigs in German or Dutch proverbs of impossibilities that turned true! Editor: That touch of the folk tale element is strong. Storks have been symbols for delivery of the soul long before the little baskets filled with babes, I’d argue. This piece, although maybe just genre painting, reveals more universal, deeply set expectations concerning beginnings and growth. It plays on core cultural memory, a collective wish. Curator: It’s like tapping directly into the collective cultural understanding and putting it in an accessible, visually heartwarming package. The print captures our inner longing for joyful events to grace our doorsteps—sometimes literally, delivered by a stork! It’s lovely. Editor: Yes, there's magic in seeing this artwork; you notice how long lasting symbols persist as shared cultural experience across the ages. A simple print turns into this unexpected reminder of fundamental symbols.