Ontmoeting tussen de jonge Johannes de Doper en Christus 1617

Dietrich Kruger created this engraving of ‘The Meeting between the young John the Baptist and Christ’ sometime in the late 16th or early 17th century. Kruger was working at a time when printmaking was becoming a vital means of communicating religious and political ideas. This image draws on well-established visual codes. For example, halos identify the holy figures of John and Jesus, while the embrace of the two children signifies the bond between the future Messiah and his prophet. In the background we see the image of shepherds and sheep that serves as a coded reference to Christian ministry. Kruger worked at a time when the role of religious imagery was hotly contested, especially in the Northern Netherlands where he spent his career. Prints like this played an important role in shaping religious imagination. Art historians consult a range of sources, including theological texts and popular literature, to understand the role that images like this played in the religious culture of their time.