Kruisiging van Christus 1573 - 1614

Curator: As we stand before this engraving, take a moment to absorb the scene—"Kruisiging van Christus" by Pieter van der Borcht I. It likely dates between 1573 and 1614. The Rijksmuseum holds this particular impression, made using engraving techniques of the Northern Renaissance. What catches your eye first? Editor: It's intensely detailed, almost overwhelming. The stark contrast between light and shadow emphasizes the suffering, but there's also a strangely formal quality to it. The sheer density of figures and symbols gives the work a heavy feeling...almost leaden with grief. Curator: Van der Borcht skillfully employs a landscape setting, which, unusually, becomes the stage for this central figuration. Do the traditional elements speak to you, in relation to that staging? Editor: Absolutely, everything means something! Notice the sun looking down from above, and the accompanying text on the tablet. Then there's all that is spread on the ground...bones and other grim remains! Van der Borcht utilizes recognizable iconography that immediately roots this historical painting within a deeply Christian cultural context, while alluding to even earlier mythologies concerning death, sacrifice, and rebirth. Curator: Precisely. This engraving also shows influences of earlier artists, doesn't it? Editor: Without a doubt! You see the influence of other styles through a classical approach in its construction. Van der Borcht is definitely pulling from well-established visual traditions while wrestling with new printing techniques, but does he achieve the same emotion with this particular pen drawing style? Curator: I think it works; there is tension in all this busy-ness! You can observe the gestures; the story it carries is all so human in its emotive nature. Editor: I see what you mean— it allows a space for contemplation amid all that visual noise. There's a powerful sense of historical witnessing invoked in this engraving, achieved by packing in all this imagery.