Maagd Maria wordt opgenomen in het koninkrijk der hemelen 1696

Curator: Ah, look at this engraving! It's a print from 1696 called "Maagd Maria wordt opgenomen in het koninkrijk der hemelen," or, in English, "The Virgin Mary Ascending to Heaven," attributed to Gaspar Bouttats. Currently it resides in the Rijksmuseum. What catches your eye about it? Editor: The drama of it all! A celestial spotlight shining down, figures writing furiously... and then this almost operatic drapery swagging across the top right. It feels very Baroque. Curator: Absolutely Baroque. And steeped in religious iconography, of course. We see Mary elevated above a city, bathed in divine light. Then below, you have these figures recording and interpreting this celestial event. Editor: Who are those figures? One in a monk's robe... and is that a nun to the right? It's a scene heavy with scholarship and devotion. The intensity of that gaze from the one holding the quill… it’s all about trying to capture something essentially uncapturable. And that eagle clutching what I presume is the word of God! Powerful, colonial vibes. Curator: The eagle definitely adds a layer. Perhaps a symbol of imperial power intertwined with religious doctrine. Look at how light radiates, linking earth to the divine above! Editor: It's visually connecting earthly events with celestial authority. I wonder about the positioning of the women in this work, especially in light of colonialist narratives. They have limited roles, positioned to transcribe or record a divine interpretation created and endorsed by the men in power. Curator: That's a crucial point, considering this print probably had a specific political, and perhaps propagandistic, purpose, perhaps even to bolster existing religious institutions. Editor: Precisely. Prints like this functioned as visual rhetoric. How it was used, and by whom is crucial. It opens the door to understanding the political uses of devotion, or divine permission. Curator: Well, it certainly gives us plenty to think about! Religious devotion meets social power, all neatly rendered in ink on paper. Editor: A tiny etching, but so representative of that whole era—miracles, meaning, and a power structure etched onto the page.