Maria met het Christuskind naast de H. Hieronymus 1660

Editor: So, here we have Nikolaas van Hoy's engraving, "Maria met het Christuskind naast de H. Hieronymus," from around 1660. It has this really classical feel, but also it strikes me as an intimate family scene, despite the presence of what appears to be Saint Jerome's Lion. How would you interpret this work? Curator: Well, the seemingly disparate figures actually tell a richer story about the function of religious imagery. Consider the period; the mid-17th century saw a rise in private devotional practices. Prints like these, affordable and reproducible, made religious iconography accessible outside the grand churches. Editor: So it’s meant to be a more personal experience of religion? Curator: Exactly. It brings together the Virgin and Child, symbols of the divine, with Saint Jerome, a crucial figure for biblical translation. Note his lion—Jerome removed a thorn from its paw, so it became his loyal companion. Including Jerome and the lion alongside the Virgin underscores the importance of accessible scripture in strengthening personal faith. Van Hoy highlights the fusion of the domestic and the sacred. Does that begin to change the narrative from "intimate family scene?" Editor: Definitely. It moves beyond just sentimentality, reflecting how Baroque art often served as a tool for promoting religious values within daily life. The imagery, replicated through prints, saturated society. I hadn't considered the scale of influence that prints afforded artists at that time. Curator: Precisely. And think about the target audience. These prints democratized art ownership, influencing spiritual practice on a societal level. That accessibility reshaped Baroque society through both public and personal image consumption. Editor: That completely changes my perspective. Thanks, it gives me a better insight on its intended cultural use, and why it looks the way it does!