Jozef 1550

Dirck Volckertsz Coornhert made this engraving, Jozef, during a period of religious and political upheaval in the Netherlands. The artwork presents us with a visual dialogue between virtue and earthly desire. The figure on the left, possibly representing virtue, wears a helmet and sits beside a lamb. This implies attributes such as protection and innocence. On the right, a nude male figure armed with a bow and arrow suggests a more active, perhaps even aggressive, stance towards the world. The male nude was a means of expressing ideas about heroism, divinity, and ideal beauty, rooted in classical traditions and infused with Renaissance humanism. It's interesting to consider how Coornhert, as an artist and theologian, might have seen these themes playing out in the society around him, and also within the self.