Euphraxia Romana 16th-17th century

Editor: This is Adriaen Collaert’s engraving, Euphraxia Romana. It's a very detailed scene with figures in a landscape. There's a lot of contrast between light and shadow, which creates a dramatic effect. What do you see in this piece, beyond the surface? Curator: Well, this image presents an interesting intersection of religious devotion and societal expectation for women. Euphraxia's rejection of Roman luxury is a powerful statement. Consider how her act of leaving the city, implied in the Latin text below, challenges the conventional roles assigned to women of her status. What does her choice to serve God, rather than societal expectations, tell us about the agency she might have possessed, or lacked, within the confines of her time? Editor: So, you're saying it's less about simple piety and more about a conscious rejection of a certain kind of life? Curator: Precisely. It is a rebellion, though a religiously sanctioned one. This raises questions about how women navigated power structures, and if acts of religious devotion were a way to assert control in a patriarchal society. Editor: That's a different way of seeing it. It makes you think about the complexities of female figures in historical narratives. Curator: Exactly, and hopefully it inspires us to think about the silent voices, the untold stories, within this image.