Letter E met ouroboros 1639 - 1643

Curator: Ah, look at this. Claude Mellan's "Letter E met ouroboros," an engraving created between 1639 and 1643. Part of a series, perhaps an alphabet? Editor: My first impression? Intense. That serpent swallowing its tail around the letter E is so full of symbolism and a bit unsettling too. It really captures that Baroque fascination with complexity. Curator: It's precisely that duality that fascinates me. The crisp, almost sterile lines of the engraving itself against the writhing form of the ouroboros, suggesting endless cycles of creation and destruction. The 'E' itself appears oddly static by contrast. Editor: Absolutely. It speaks to the ephemerality of existence and this constant rebirth—a classic Baroque theme after the upheavals of the Reformation and amidst the ever-present spectre of death. Makes you think, doesn't it? And the scale! It seems so intimate, so personal, like a hidden emblem in a learned person’s book. Curator: Precisely. Mellan was working in a world of courtly patronage, theological debate, and scientific exploration. The choice of line engraving allows a clarity and precision reflecting, perhaps, the pursuit of rational knowledge, even as the serpent reminds us of the mysteries that defy easy explanation. Did Mellan see the letter itself as part of an Ouroboros, with history and thought repeating the same letter over time? Editor: Perhaps. He was a shrewd guy in a rapidly transforming world, that is for sure. And what this does for the museum, in essence, is reminding its patrons about what it means to be in an institution. It raises questions of what an institution preserves, and to whose service an institution gives priority to, when showing such pieces. This feels like a powerful thing. Curator: I'd agree. There is a power of history that Mellan captured here. Editor: It is striking to observe. It’s been an insightful exploration.