Heilige Juan Diego redt een kind uit een oven 1646

Simon Guillain the Younger made this print, Heilige Juan Diego redt een kind uit een oven, sometime in the mid-17th century. It's rendered with the graphic precision of an engraving. The linear quality emphasizes the stark drama of the scene. Juan Diego, a Franciscan friar, pulls a child from a fiery oven, while another figure looks on, perhaps gathering fuel for the blaze. The composition is sparse; we see the shovel used for stoking the fire, some straw, and the architecture of the building. Engraving is a labor-intensive process. It requires a mastery of technique to translate the world into a network of lines. In this case, Guillain used the medium to convey a story of salvation and faith, themes that were central to the social fabric of his time. The print would have served a devotional purpose, and also demonstrated Guillain's virtuosity in a highly esteemed medium. By focusing on the making, we can see how craft and devotion were intertwined.