Paulus redetwist met de tovenaar Elymas before 1646

Curator: Before us is Christoffel van Sichem II’s “Paulus redetwist met de tovenaar Elymas,” dating to before 1646. Editor: What strikes me first is how intensely this scene is etched— the density of lines carving out forms, figures wrestling for attention, feels so...urgent. Curator: Indeed. It’s an engraving depicting the biblical scene of Paul’s confrontation with Elymas, a sorcerer attempting to hinder the apostle's teachings. It is as if Van Sichem truly relishes the interplay of light and shadow through those myriad etched lines. Consider also how that affects readability: while the action teems with people and architectural backdrops, only some are readily identified, while the whole appears less immediately discernible. What do you suppose this does? Editor: It obscures the labour. It hides process. Here, everything becomes immediate: revelation, blindness, confrontation. The intense labor poured into its making—all those lines meticulously carved, one by one to produce many printed copies–that recedes from view. We consume only the content as relayed through this scene: Elymas' face contorted in fear as Paul's gaze pierces him and we judge its representation more easily as a 'simple scene.' But of course it is anything but, especially once you imagine its repeated mechanical reproduction for an audience who hungered for moralistic imagery. Curator: Fascinating! It's interesting to note how, despite its dense, almost chaotic composition, there's a sense of theatrical drama. Everyone seems caught in this pivotal moment. Even now, gazing at the disputation as though from within Van Sichem’s sketchbook, I see echoes of doubt, the kind that tugs at the conscience just before truth cuts through falsehood. Editor: Truth as commodity, of course, manufactured for mass distribution within a devout, consuming public hungry for clear delineations of good and evil… which is ironically also where sorcery derives its potency, I'd add, lest we believe these images somehow transcended such socio-historical constraints as tools meant to shape public behavior. Curator: Still, this remains such a rich encapsulation, as raw and vulnerable, etched onto paper... Editor: Yes. A potent, revealing artifact of labor, craft, and faith intermingling in a specific time and place.