Plaag van de duisternis 1645 - 1646

Curator: So, let’s take a look at “Plaag van de duisternis,” or "Plague of Darkness," an engraving by Christoffel van Sichem the Younger, created around 1645-1646. It resides here at the Rijksmuseum. What's your first take on this one? Editor: Oof, heavy. The sheer weight of the black ink! It feels like the air itself is suffocating. I imagine this engraving might have been conceived under quarantine. Talk about an echo! Curator: Indeed. The density certainly sets the stage. Van Sichem was a printmaker; this piece employs engraving to, quite literally, cast a shadow on its narrative subject. We see very clearly the relationship between artistic method and content— darkness rendered materially through painstaking cuts and ink. Editor: And those frantic figures emerging from the gloom… they look so utterly medieval, like players yanked from a morality play about fear. There’s that theatrical gesture, that exaggerated escape… almost humorous amidst the despair. What context can you give me here? Curator: It comes during the peak of the Baroque period. What we might interpret today as exaggerated and dramatic reflects a sensibility rooted in strong emotion and persuasive communication – think religious reform and statesmanship both vying for attention in the public square. Engravings were crucial for circulating imagery and ideas, especially among a public that could not afford paintings. So here we have a Baroque scene, miniaturized for wider distribution. Editor: You know, examining this dark tableau in the light of circulation and reproducibility makes you rethink the original artistry. It’s not simply a precious art object; it is more about access, transmission of cultural stories to reach every household through print. It kind of democratizes access to myth through skilled labor and calculated output. Curator: Absolutely, considering printmaking’s role, what's especially fascinating about Sichem's piece is how it visualizes invisible phenomena—darkness itself as a "plague." The artistry lies not only in rendering figures, but an intangible menace spreading across a city. Editor: So true, so clever! Revisiting it through the material lens and then thinking about how that darkness spreads...it almost anticipates our contemporary experience of 'going viral.' That image—multiplied infinitely on simple paper becomes the real contagion here. I feel like, through this piece, van Sichem still haunts the corridors of digital life. Curator: Well said. Considering both the historical function and the aesthetic achievement has truly brought new light to this little Plague of Darkness, hasn’t it?