Saul en David verwelkomd door de vrouwen van Israel en Saul tracht de harp spelende David te doden 1791

Curator: Here we have a print from 1791 by Jacob Folkema, titled "Saul and David Welcomed by the Women of Israel, and Saul Tries to Kill David as He Plays the Harp." The medium is engraving. Editor: What strikes me immediately is the contrast. The top scene is full of jubilant energy, almost chaotic in its celebration, while the bottom half simmers with a darker, more contained intensity. It's like looking at two very different plays unfolding on the same stage. Curator: That’s insightful. This work visualizes two separate moments from the biblical story of Saul and David. If we consider the materials and production, engravings like this were crucial for disseminating narratives and moral lessons to a wider audience, becoming relatively inexpensive modes of mass-production, impacting popular understanding of religious stories. Editor: I imagine the artist meticulously etching each line to build up these scenes. All that hatching and cross-hatching, giving depth and volume. Knowing that someone labored over this so intensely almost makes me feel the paranoia dripping from Saul's expression in the lower panel. He looks completely consumed. Curator: Absolutely. The act of reproducing stories from the Bible involved labor that made this text open to interpretation. Looking closely, we see differences in clothing, architecture, and the postures of each character, which allows for social readings of status, gender, and psychological dynamics, contributing to the history-painting genre in the late eighteenth century. Editor: Thinking about it, there’s also a really compelling story about jealousy here. Saul is greeted as the celebrated King, but you get the sense David stole a slice of the glory. Folkema has captured that seed of bitterness turning to full blown rage as Saul attempts to pin David with his spear, all because of popular approval. We are looking at this engraving in the Rijksmuseum today, another story in itself. It invites reflections on power, faith, and public sentiment... fascinating. Curator: Precisely. Thank you for these closing thoughts. The engraving leaves us with lingering thoughts regarding the labor invested to interpret those feelings through repeated stories across time and materials. Editor: And for me, it has become a poignant snapshot of a leader crumbling under the weight of his own insecurities, translated into a really compelling image.