Geliefde jeugd in ieder dier / blinkt Gods weldadig albestier 1850 - 1870

Curator: Here we have a print titled "Geliefde jeugd in ieder dier / blinkt Gods weldadig albestier", dating from somewhere between 1850 and 1870. It's attributed to P.C.L. van Staden Czn., featuring watercolors and possibly other traditional printmaking techniques. Editor: It’s…charming! In a slightly unsettling way. There’s a child-like innocence in the imagery—the brightly colored animals look like something from a very old, slightly faded children's book, but their eyes have a haunted, hollow vibe. Ironic because it uses youth and vibrancy to communicate about God's goodness. Curator: The piece uses figuration of animals and people alongside text, suggesting a didactic or moralizing intent. The phrases are actually small poems; this style was indeed pretty common for children's illustrations to impart religious morals in a friendly manner, embedding it as education and visual culture at the time. The verses speak to themes like the usefulness and characteristics of various animals. Editor: I love the somewhat wonky perspective. That stripy owl, and the horse’s melancholic gaze, is everything! The print's design has an unrefined quality which speaks volumes about both it's accessibility to audiences of its era as well as to the artistic limitations in this category of art during this period. They were just sketching and printing images from nature they liked and finding bible versus or something like that. A total DIY mood. Curator: Precisely. Also, considering the time it was produced, it most likely targeted the rising middle class of the Netherlands and those with connections to the church and biblical education; to offer accessible educational materials which also visually confirmed existing social structures and morals. It suggests both a specific audience and what values this imagery carried to its consumers. Editor: I like the tiger's odd blue stripes. It's oddly endearing how each of the renderings aren’t really concerned with perfectly representing "animal-ness" but instead focuses on the symbolism or associations evoked when people see a bird versus a fox or horse etc...it says "animalness-adjacent!" Curator: It is amazing what looking through these images of our history opens up within us as we connect with visual representations made over a hundred years ago, especially once you know how that past was tied to the politics of its time and its connection to larger forces, it has the power to reveal cultural expectations and limitations about how God may have viewed this artwork! Editor: Indeed. Plus it allows you to reflect on your own view. A quick flash of seeing the world through other peoples eyes and faith through the art. Not bad for a small page of sketchbook watercolors!